To Transcend Darkness
by Archerionwolf
Summary: Mikey disappears during a mission and finds himself in another dimension. In an attempt to return home he confronts the Dragon Master who will only send him back if he masters the Yokai Art of Kung Fu. However, once the turtle shows promise the Master decides to try and keep his newest student by attempting to turn him against his own family.
1. Mikey Dissapears

Mikey Disappears

Prologue

The lab was filled with the sounds of battle. Threats were made, insults were passed, and eventually the commotion died down leaving Raphael laying in a heap on the floor with Mikey standing before him. Something touched the turtles leg drawing Michelangelo's attention down where he found Donnie at his feet. A large crack on his stomach was bleeding profusely, draining the color from his face. "Please…Mikey. You're not like this. You're our brother…"

Moments ago those words would have been heard but not now. Now they meant nothing. With a grunt of irritation Mikey let out a kick to Donatello's head leaving him unconscious.

"No!" Leo shouted, lunging forward as though able to stop what had just happened. Mikey leapt into the air, nimbly flipping over his brother and landing behind him. Almost immediately he had to swoop backwards to avoid Leo's swords as he swung around defensively. On one foot Mikey spun around and tripped Leo mid swing. He fell to the floor but quickly rolled back, regaining his footing only to receive a punch to the face.

"Got your nose!" Mikey grinned, holding his fist up with the tip of his thumb sticking out from between his two fingers. "Wait…We don't have noses. So where did this come from?" He scratched his head.

Taking this opportunity Leo swung both his blades down intending to immobilize him. However he was forced to gawk in utter awe as Mikey's arms shot out grabbing each sword by the blade and stopping them successfully. The sharp metal bit harshly into the turtles flesh sending rivers of blood down the hilts. Leo instantly lamented on what he had done. As the doubt became evident in his brother's eyes Mikey yanked both swords from his hands and tossed them aside, spattering blood across the floor as he did so.

"Mikey….What's happened to you?" Leo stepped back in horror, no longer recognizing the turtle before him.

Mikey grinned darkly at him, sinister intentions in his eyes. "I grew up."

...

Present day…

It looked like something out of a sci-fi convention. The thing appeared to be a gun of some sort with its long silver nozzle ending in a purple bulb with a brightly shining violet light. What Donatello held in his hands was a very powerful weapon indeed. Its core held a form of purple matter strong enough to rip open a portal in space and time thus allowing its wielder to jump from one universe to another. With this kind of weapon anyone could alter history at a whim.

It was late at night. The turtles had recently caught the Foot delivering this mysterious item. After a little research and investigation they had discovered its purpose and aimed to put a stop to it. However the warehouse was full of more than crates. A secret latch in the floor led to an underground chamber armed to the teeth with security guards and cameras. Mikey had been put on guard duty outside while Raff, Don and Leo went to retrieve it.

"Hurry up!" Raphael whispered impatiently from the trap door.

"I am!" Donatello was holding the silver gun out delicately so as not to bump it against anything.

Raph sighed loudly. "They'll be back by the time you make it to the door!"

"And if I'm too rough with it we'll be zapped back to the Stone Age!"

Leo was keeping watch from inside just behind Raph when he noticed a guard walking by. "Guys hide!" He whispered.

"What!? But..Er…Gah!" Donnie fumbled for a bit before throwing caution to the wind and running out clumsily.

...

Outside Mikey was playing with a yo-yo. "Walk the dog! The Cradle! Around the world! Ow!" He shouted after abruptly hitting himself in the head. "They need to stick a warning on these things…."

The sound of something falling over caught his attention and he focused from his perch. It appeared to be coming from the warehouse. "Uh oh! Looks like someone needs help from the Mikester!" He giggled before sneaking out from the top of the building and getting closer to the warehouse. Hiding behind a large pile of crates he looked over and spotted five Foot Ninja's sneaking inside.

"They've been spotted!" He exclaimed worriedly and hurried in after them. "Don't worry guys! I got…Your…Backs?" Mikey slowed his pace to a halt as he realized he was surrounded by a small group of surprised Foot Ninjas.

"Oh…Sorry….I thought this was the bathroom." He backed up only to find his exit cut off. He was trapped!

...

"Okay it's clear!" Leo called to the others as the guards walked by. They hadn't been spotted.

Donnie now had the gun cradled against himself for fear of it suddenly going off.

"Hurry up twinkle toes!" Raph shoved Donnie after a moment and they hurried outside. Just as they reached the exit a shadow cast itself over them.

"Going somewhere?" Dog Pound growled at them from behind. Donny tried to back away but was in the direct path of the oncoming fist.

"Not so fast dog breath!" Raph shouted as he blocked with his weapons. "Donnie! Get that thing out of here!"

"We can't!" Leo shouted as dozens more foot ninja surrounded them. This time they didn't hesitate and attacked all at once.

Leo and Raph did their best to fend them off but with Donnie unable to fight they knew they were outnumbered. He simply stood there holding the gun against himself while making sure none of the foot got their grubby paws on it.

"Donnie! Look out!" Raph shouted as Fish Face suddenly appeared and grabbed an end of the gun.

A short game of tug of war ensued between them. "Let Go!" Donnie shouted, desperately wishing he could grab his staff.

Suddenly something went 'CRACK!' and the two looked down to realize there was a break in the bulb at the end. The light pulsated from it eerily as though reacting with the suddenly introduced air.

"Okay, you can have it!" Donnie shoved it back at Fish Face and ran. Leo and Raph paused for a moment before doing likewise.

Dog Pound stood beside the belated Fish Face only to realize why. "Run you idiot! It's going to explode!"

The goofy grin on Fish Face vanished instantly as he dropped the weapon and retreated. It was a mad dash for everyone to escape.

...

Mikey was holding his own just barely when the Foot Ninja's suddenly began to retreat. As they disappeared he stood surprised. "Uh…Hah! That's right you better run! You bunch of cowards!" He shouted after a moment and proudly walked into the next section of the warehouse. Something purple was glowing near the front doorway.

"Hey! What's that?" He wandered up to it. The purple light was pulsating violently now with a slight humming noise emitting from the silver gun. "Oh man! Is this that gunamabobber?" He picked it up and scratched his head. "I wonder why it's-"

A bright purple light erupted from it, engulfing Mikey and the warehouse instantly.

...

Outside the Foot had vanished and the turtles watched as the warehouse disappeared in a flash of light.

"What happened to it?" Raph asked.

Donnie stepped forth with a finger on his chin. "If my research was correct then after the matter in the power core was exposed to the oxygen in the air it reacted and opened a portal through time and space. But since the gun was broken and no destination was set it probably projected the warehouse to some unknown dimension."

"So the gun is gone?" Leo asked.

"Yep."

"Good riddance." Raph huffed before walking away. "Hey Mikey! Great guard job! We totally didn't get surrounded or anything."

Silence.

"Mikey?" Leo called. Still no answer.

Finally Donnie looked back at the warehouse with suspicion in his eyes. "Where's Mikey?"

**A/N: Decided to add a prologue. :D**


	2. The Turtles Get Answers

The Turtles Get Answers

Sitting up Mikey put a hand to his head to steady his vision. Everything was still spinning but the warehouse seemed intact.

"What the heck?" He stumbled forward with the gun still in hand. After a moment he regained his balance and looked around. "Guys? Hey! Anyone here?" He called fruitlessly as he began to wander. After a moment he looked down at the object in his hand. It was no longer glowing.

"Uh…Did I break it?" He thought before he began to panic. "Oh man! Donnie's gonna kill me! I need to find some tape!"

Quickly he rushed outside holding the gun out before stopping dead in his tracks and dropping it at his feet.

The sky was a purplish grey with swirling black clouds. A dank mist hung low in the atmosphere shrouding the nearby buildings in shadows. However it took only a moment for his vision to adjust in order to find himself surrounded by various creatures, each one more hideous than the next.

Mikey stood in shock as the crowd of humanoid demons gawked at him, clearly confused as to how he and the building had gotten there. The turtle gasped as though about to scream, but suddenly began to choke on the polluted air.

"Hurk!...Oh man, who farted?"

…

Donnie surveyed the scene while Raph and Leo went to look around the nearby rooftops in case their brother had become distracted and wandered off. After about an hour the three regrouped where the warehouse used to stand.

"Find anything?" Donnie asked, startling both Leo and Raph with his strange head gear and goggles.

"Uh, Don, what the heck are you wearing?" Raphael asked.

Donnie lifted up the goggles to his forehead before answering. "This is my Purple Matter Identifier Helmet."

"Purple Matter?"

"It's what I'm calling the purple stuff that powered the gun. Since it came from another dimension to begin with we really have no actual name to call it by. Anyways, you find Mikey yet?"

"Nope."

Leo stepped forward silently and held out a yo-yo.

Raph and Donnie stared at it for a moment before speaking.

"Mikey's new yo-yo." Donnie took it from Leo's hands. "He was obsessed with this thing since he got it the other day. Something had to of happened to him."

Raph slammed his fist into the palm of his left hand. "And I have a feeling our friends the Foot know exactly what happened."

…

Mikey hid in an alleyway between two blackened buildings. The demons were walking down along the crowded streets. There were more at every corner. What's more was how they were dressed in Japanese attire such as Yukata's. The buildings themselves had paper sliding doors with blackened bamboo gardens. The rooftops of these buildings were also curved and pointed with strange figureheads on the corners of each roof.

"Where the heck am I?" He wondered aloud. After he realized he wasn't in New York anymore he had thrown a smoke bomb and disappeared into the nearby shadows. Luckily he hadn't been spotted yet but some huge demon with a wolf like head and rams horns appeared and parted the crowd with his presence. He appeared to be a samurai of some sort.

"Hello mister." Came a little girl's voice.

Mikey turned to find a little demon about the size of a five year old standing beside him. She was wearing a pink and white kimono decorated with cherry blossom patterns. Her face seemed lizard like but with bright blue human like eyes. A pair of small black horns adorned the top of her head on either side of her blond hair which was tied up into a bun with two long hair pins holding it up.

"Yeeeahhhhh!" He screamed quietly and backed up. "Wait!" He took note of her small size. "You're kind of adorable aren't you? Hey there little guy." He put his hands on his knees and leaned over like he was calling a dog.

"I'm a girl."

"Oh….Er..Okay." He stood up. "You know, in a weird way you remind me of a friend of mine."

The small demon tilted her head slightly. "You're not from around here are you?"

Mikey looked behind himself before answering. "Uh, no not exactly. I'm from the sewers in New York. And I gotta say, this place smells way worse."

The little girl's eyes widened. "You're from another world!"

"World? What?" Mikey walked up to her. "No, I'm from New York. New Yoooork." He began stretching his hands out side to side as though measuring something long.

"You came in the purple light with that strange building." She exclaimed.

Mikey put his hands down. "Oh that! Yeah, I kinda did I guess. So uh….Do you know how I get back? Is there a subway train I can take? Or a bus even?"

The little demon began backing away with her eyes averted.

"Hey wait! I'm not scary. I mean, if anything you look scarier than me." He clumsily attempted to call her back but instead she began to run. "Er..Wait! I didn't mean that! You're not that ugly! You're a very pretty…Thing…..Hey wait up!"

…

"Here." April confirmed as the three turtles stood behind her. "This was where they were talking about it."

"You sure it was the Foot?" Leo asked.

"Hey! Don't question her!" Donnie defended the girl. "She knows what she's talking about. Right April?"

April just smiled and nodded at him before they were shushed by Raph. "There they are."

Dog Pound emerged from the back end of a building. A few Foot Ninja's appeared and carried in some supplies. Nothing as dangerous as the gun they had first encountered, but still weapons.

"Okay, we'll wait till they go in and plan a sneak att-" Leo stopped mid-sentence as Raph lept from their hiding place on the roof and dove right in. "Raph!"

"Come on! We gotta help!" Donnie shouted and followed.

"Stay here!" Leo ordered April before following his brothers.

The fight was short since there was only Dog Pound and two Foot Ninja's. This was a simple delivery mission after all so muscle wasn't considered necessary for it. After the two Foot were taken care of the three ganged up on Dog Pound and pinned him down as Donnie held his staff at the mutants throat. Raph stood in front of him with his fists at the ready.

"Where's our brother!" He shouted.

Dog Pound grunted and began laughing. "Oh, you mean the orange one? Haha, I remember hearing something about him interfering back at the warehouse."

Donnie swiftly smacked him on the head with his staff before repositioning it at his throat. "Shut up and tell us what happened to him!"

Leo put a hand on Donnie's shoulder to calm him down. "Tell us before we get serious." Leo warned.

"Oh I'm already serious." Raph threatened as he clenched his fists tighter.

Dog Pound eyed the group. "It's killing you isn't it? Not knowing where your beloved brother is. Whether he's alive or not? Heh, well sorry to break it to you but he's as good as dead!"

The three flinched at his words, but Raph quickly recovered and slammed Dog Pounds head against the brick wall he was held against. "Say that again! I dare you!"

"The Foot he was fighting….Said he never left the warehouse…When the …Gun went off…." The mutant huffed with Raphs hand tightly on his throat.

Donnie's staff lowered. "You mean he went to some unknown dimension with the gun?"

Raphs grip loosened slightly. "Don, tell me you know how to get him back."

Leo looked at his brother who appeared desperate. "I..I don't…I mean.." Donnie struggled with his thoughts. "It's unknown technology! I don't even have a sample of the purple matter to test with."

"Can't you make something?" Leo asked.

After a moment Donnie had an idea. "Yeah, I think I can. If it's for Mikey I think I'll be able to pull it off."

Dog Pound struggled suddenly but was swiftly knocked out by Raph. "How about we dump this guy off a bridge?"

"No Raph." Leo intervened. "I have a better idea."

Ten minutes later Dog Pound was discovered tied up in chains and hanging from a street light in front of the City Dog Pound.


	3. A Trip to the Castle

A Trip to the Castle

The little lizard girl was much faster than Mikey had anticipated. She easily dodged through small crevices and sudden turns. Eventually he just jumped up to the roofs and followed her from there. After a while she stopped running and went inside a small rundown building at the end of town.

Mikey looked around and made sure none of the demons noticed him before jumping down and following her inside.

"Hello? Strange little girl! I didn't mean anything already!" He called.

He heard someone behind him and spun around just in time to spot another demon. This one was much taller and had a pair of long twisted white horns. His face was also similar to a lizard's only his scales were black with a long thin white goatee. He was wearing a crimson red and yellow yukata decorated with bird patterns. His clawed hands were folded firmly behind his back as he examined the intruder.

"Oh, hey mister. I uh…Was…Um…Do you know where the nearest subway station is?" Mikey asked nervously. "Because if not I'm totally cool with, ya know, leaving here alive."

The little demon girl then poked her head out from behind the taller demon.

"Oh hey! There you are." Mikey pointed her out.

"Who are you?" The taller demon finally asked.

"Oh, me? I'm Michelangelo, but you can call me Mikey. Or the Mikester, or the Super Rad Awesome Mike! Or, oh how about-"

"What business do you have with my daughter?" The demon interrupted.

Mikey stopped his rant. "Uh, well. I was just looking for a way home is all."

"And that is?"

"New York City. Well, the sewers actually."

The demon began stroking his beard similar to how Master Splinter would. "I've never heard of this, 'New York City'."

Mikey slumped. "Awe man! Seriously? Then how am I gonna get home?"

The little demon girl tugged on her father's yukata. He bent over and she whispered something in his ear which caused his eyes to widen. The demon then snapped back up to a straightened position.

"You're the stranger who had appeared in the center of town from another world." The Demon declared.

"Uh, yeah. There was this gun thing but I think I broke it." Mikey rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "It was how I got here."

"Well I am sorry to inform you but you cannot leave here now."

"What! Why not?"

The demon sighed and began walking into the next room. "Follow."

"Uh, okay?" Mikey cautiously did as he was told and was led into a room where the walls were covered in pictures just like back home. Down at the end of the room was the picture of a tall black figure entwined by a dragon.

"This is the Dark Realm which mostly consists of us Yokai, and we are ruled by the most powerful of all Yokai, Master Ryuu." The demon motioned towards the figure. "He is the keeper of chi and he alone holds the ability to travel through space and time."

"Oh! So I just ask this guy?" Mikey smiled. "Alright! Just point the way!"

"It is not so easy." The demon replied.

"Why, is there a toll gate or something? Because if that's the case I kinda don't have any money."

"No. Master Ryuu will not help you. He only helps those recognized in combat. And in order to be recognized by him you must defeat him."

Mikey thought for a moment before responding. "Hey! That's okay. I may not look it but I'm a lean green fighting machine! I train with my brothers all the time! Although Raff and Leo usually win…" He calmed down as he thought some more. "Well, actually they win a lot. Now that I think of it, is there some other way, you know, in case I don't win?"

"No!" The little demon girl shouted. "You can't!"

Mikey was startled. "What? What can't I do?"

The father patted the little girl on her head. "Forgive her, she recently lost her brother."

"Oh, man I'm sorry little…girl?" Mikey stated carefully. "How'd that happen?"

"The alternative to your going home is through the same method that had ultimately killed her brother."

"And what's that?"

The demon took a moment to respond. "Master Ryuu is a powerful dragon who takes yokai form in order to train his students. His training is so harsh that only one or two students survive it every hundred years."

"What!" Mikey exclaimed.

"What's more," The demon continued. "Is that those few who do pass his training not only earn his respect, but are ultimately changed."

"Changed how?"

The little girl murmured quietly. "They become dark spirits. Just like by brother did….Before he died."

It took Mikey a little bit to catch what she said. "You mean that those who pass the training turn evil?"

They both nodded.

"No way. I'm not doing that. I can't! And what's more I might get killed while training? No way. I'll stick with Master Splinter's training thank you very much." He began walking away before pausing outside and looking both ways. "Maybe I'll just talk with the guy? I mean, this Ryuu can't be all that bad right? I'll just charm him with my lovable personality!"

The demon stepped up from behind him. "The Yokai Master is that way." He pointed to an enormous black palace far in the distance.

"Oh, is that all? Okay. By the way, out of curiosity what exactly are yokai anyways? No offense or anything but you all look like a bunch of Kraang experiments gone wrong."

"Well in other worlds we yokai are better known by the term, demons."

"Oh, okay." Mikey began walking away before realizing what he just heard. "Wait, what!?"

…

"Where is your brother?" Master Splinter asked as the three arrived. They had avoided contact with their master until they discovered the whereabouts of Mikey, but now they had no choice.

"I'm sorry Sensei." Leo apologized. "Something happened and we didn't want you to worry so we were looking for him on our own."

The rat paused at this statement. "What happened?"

Donnie looked away as he removed his headgear. "The gun we were after broke and exploded. Mikey was in the building when it happened, now he is in some unknown dimension along with the gun."

Master Splinter rubbed beard. "Wouldn't he be able to use the gun to return?"

Donnie shook his head. "No. The purple matter reacts with the oxygen in the air in order to open portals. But it only takes a little amount to open one and the rest regenerates itself to fill the container. Since the container itself was broken all of the matter was exposed and was used to transport Mikey away. That means there won't be any of the matter left to regenerate and use for a trip back."

Raph frowned. "What? But didn't you say you had an idea to find a way to bring him back?"

"Yeah. But it will take some time. Until then all we can do is hope Mikey is doing alright where ever he is."

…

It had been a long walk but he eventually made it. Strangely enough there weren't any demons, or yokai to be seen. He knocked on the enormous front gates and twiddled his thumbs until a demon slid back a cover from the peep hole.

"Who is there?" It growled.

"Uh…I'm Mikey. I was hoping I could talk with Master Ryuu?" There was no response at first but eventually he became aware of laughter. "Hey! What's so funny?"

"You wish to speak with Master Ryuu? Master Ryuu does not simply speak with anyone. Those who are too weak die at his feet by merely being in his presence!"

"What!?" Mikey shivered. "I just need to find a way home! Is there anyone else who can take me back to my world?"

Silence.

"Hello?"

He wasn't sure exactly what was going on behind the doors but there was clearly someone else back there talking with the door guard.

"Very well then!" The guard suddenly shouted, causing Mikey to jump back. "You may enter!"

The enormous gates slowly swung out. As they revealed the interior of the castle Mikey couldn't help but be confused. "Hey, am I being let in or out? Because I'm pretty sure plants are supposed to be kept outside."

A large field of green grass, coy ponds, and cherry trees was revealed with a decorated stone walkway that lead down the middle of it. A monstrous creature stepped forward, even taller than the little demon girl's father. His shoulders were broad and clad in Japanese armor. His face was covered in spikes. Upon his brow was one enormous red eye. "Come with me foreigner!"

"Uh..The name is Mik-"

"Just follow!" He shouted. Mikey stood straight and quickly followed with a quiet, 'yessir!'

…

Raph was sitting hunched over on the couch as Donnie worked away at his station building some sort of contraption to bring Mikey back. Likewise, Leo was engulfed in his comics. Unfortunately he just couldn't stay focused on the graphic novel as he worried over his missing brother.

Suddenly Raphael stood with a grunt and began storming out.

"Raph wait! Where are you going?" Leo called.

"Where do you think I'm going?" Raph shouted back. "Mikey is missing and Donnie is building some sort of gizmo to bring him back while me and you do nothing! I can't stand it! I'm going back to the place that it happened and figuring out just where that thing came from in the first place!"

With that the turtle hurried out angrily.


	4. Training Begins

Training Begins

They had passed through the meadow long ago and were now climbing up a mountain of stairs. After a long trek they had finally made it to the top. It turned out that the supposed castle was actually nothing but a gate for the real thing. Now that he was up there Mikey leaned over to catch his breath only to be slapped hard on the head.

"Ouch!" He shouted as he rubbed the sore spot. "What are you? My brothers?"

"Silence! If you wish to return home then go inside." The demon ordered and pointed towards the next gate. This one was not as large but still quite hefty with golden dragons adorning each.

"Uh, is that it?" He asked, but when he turned the demon had vanished. "Ahhh!" He screamed in surprise. "Was that guy a ghost or something?" He bumped against the gate by accident which swung open quickly.

He turned around to find the inside pitch black. "I think I'm just gonna go."

"Enter!" Boomed an enormous voice from the darkness. Mikey shivered.

"If you say so." He whimpered before slowing walking in. As soon as he was all the way inside the gates swung closed. Mikey quickly turned around and began pounding on the door. "Ahh! Help! Someone! I've been eaten by a building!"

"Come forth." The voice boomed again.

Mikey turned back around slowly. "I'd rather not."

"Come forth!" The voice repeated even louder. Mikey eventually obliged and a pair of enormous red eyes became visible. They focused on the turtle and lowered down to his level. "You are strong. At least, strong enough to survive in the presence of my true form."

"True form?" He wondered.

Suddenly the darkness around him began to swirl around quickly like a tornado. He covered his face as the whirlwind continued and soon the form of an enormous serpentine dragon became evident. It was flying in circles around the room before seemingly tying itself into a knot atop a throne. As the knot tightened it shrunk down and molded into a humanoid form. Once the transformation was complete there stood a demon with a dragons head wearing long black and red robes adorned with the pattern of a single golden dragon.

"I am Master Ryuu. My subordinates have informed me of your situation." The voice was the same, but not as booming loud as before.

"Oh, okay." Mikey smiled. "So you will take me home right?"

Ryuu frowned. "Of course not. You must be able to do more than survive my true form's presence. Normally I simply destroy foreigners who trespass on my realm but since you've arrived here I have become curious. I've never had a student from another dimension before."

"Whoa whoa whoa! I'm gonna stop you right there. You see, I'm not here to train. I just was hoping maybe we could sit down, drink some tea, have some pizza and then maybe you'd let me go home?"

The dragon smirked. "You're not too bright are you? Let me explain your situation. No one from another world is allowed to live in my realm without my permission. Now that you are here I have decided that since you are at least strong enough to stand before me I will consider training you. But if you do not agree to be trained I will devour you where you stand."

"Is there a third option?"

"No."

Mikey looked down and scratched his head before looking up while scratching his armpit for a moment. Once he was done with that he bent over and began scratching his backside.

"What are you doing?"

"Thinking." Mikey replied and stood up straight. "You know what? I've been trained all my life, how bad can it be?" He wondered.

Ryuu flashed a dark grin. "Then let's see what you can do."

…

Raph knew it was stupid but he had no choice. If he was going to find anyone with any idea as to where that thing came from he had to go to the source. Baxter Stockman.

The laboratory was in the basement of a rundown apartment complex. Stockman's robots were strewn everywhere on tables and in boxes. He was clearly working on a new project.

"Hey! Stockbutt!I have a question and you better answer it or else!" Raph declared after successfully sneaking up behind the man. "Do you know anything about a weird gun with purple stuff that opens portals to other dimensions? Or, something like that?"

Stockman turned slowly while holding a button in his hand. "I think I'm getting used to your surprise attacks." He declared as he pushed it. Suddenly a glass tube dropped down from above and trapped Raph. Stockman stood in shock.

"Wow! I can't believe that actually worked!" He giggled to himself, but abruptly stopped his banter. "Wait, don't tell me you came alone? Seriously? Wow you are stupid."

Raph banged on the glass. "Get me out of here!"

"Oh no, I don't think so. I think I'm going to have fun with you before destroying you." The man giggled as a strange gas filled up the tube. Raph began struggling desperately before finally passing out. The last thing he saw was Stockman grinning ear to ear.

…

"What is this?" Mikey wondered aloud as he was escorted to an empty training room. "I thought this training was supposed to be life or death. This isn't so bad."

Ryuu snapped his fingers. Half of the room fell away into a flaming pit. "First, I want to see what you already know." With that a dummy doll appeared.

"Oh, okay." Mikey whipped out his nun-chucks and spun them around in a flashy manner. However just as he leapt at it they disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Wait, what?" He ran head long into the dummy and tumbled over.

"No weapons." Ryuu declared.

Mikey stood slowly as the dummy repositioned itself. "So nothing but Mikey. Got it!" He turned and began a barrage of attacks he had learned, and some he didn't. After about a minute Ryuu signaled to stop.

"How was that?" He asked the dragon. "Not bad right? That last move was something I made all on my own. I call it the Butt Punch, because I punched it with my butt!"

"You certainly have some skill in hand to hand combat, but you will be learning something better. The Yokai Art of Kung Fu is an extreme skill. Which means you must fight something more than mere dummies." With that the dragon snapped his claws and the dummy split into three.

"So I just fight three?"

Ryuu shook his head. "You will be fighting everything you know."

The three dummies began to mold themselves into familiar shapes. Shortly they became Leo, Donnie, and Raph.

"Whoa! Am I happy to see you guys!" Mikey ran up to Donnie. "You have no idea what I've been through! Wait, I'm not falling for this." He stopped. "These are just those dummies. Why do they look like my brothers?"

"In order to learn the Yokai Art of Kung Fu you must fight your inner beings. The dummy has taken the form of those closest to you. Now you must fight them to the death, or fall into the pit." The dragon indicated towards the flames below.

"But, I can't fight my own brothers! I mean, I can fight them when training and argue sometimes, but not to the death! Even if they are just dummies."

"Then think of every time they had made you hate them. Use it against them. Fight them with your best. If you can endure this then you will move on to the next stage of training."

Mikey looked uncertainly at them as Ryuu disappeared. "This won't be that hard right?"

Suddenly all three of them came at him. He dodged as much as possible but was pushed close to the edge and nearly fell in. Desperately he looked down into the flames and back at the dummie brothers. After a moment of hesitation he swung a fist only to be deflected by Leo and tossed to the other side of the small room.

"Awe man. How the heck am I supposed to do this? I just can't fight my own brothers to the death, even if they're fakes." He murmured to himself before hearing something. It was Donnie's voice.

"Why do I always get stuck with Mikey?"

"Donnie?" Mikey asked before being interrupted by Leo.

"Because I don't want him."

"Raph?" Donnie asked. "Over my dead body." Raph replied.

"Guys?" Mikey whimpered. "What's going on?" The voices weren't coming from the dummies. They were coming from inside his own head.

"Why don't we go with my plans?" He heard his own voice echo in the recesses of his subconscious.

"Because they're your plans." Leo's voice argued.

These were not just voices, but memories from before. Every time his brothers had shot him down was ringing in his head.

"Gah! Get out of my head!" Mikey grabbed his head and backed up to the edge. The flames shot up ready to engulf him just when he made his decision.

"I am not useless!" He shouted as he looked up and lunged at the three dummies with all his might, a small flicker of anger reflecting in his eyes.


	5. Reflections

Reflections

It was morning now. Leo awoke on the couch to the sound of April and Master Splinter training. He stretched and wandered over to Donnie's lab. He was still working on the strange contraption and didn't look like he had gotten any sleep.

"Dude, you need to rest." Leo offered, but Donnie shook his head.

"Mikey is still missing. I can't stop."

Leo sighed. "Alright. Anyway, did Raph return last night? He left to do a search around town to find answers about the Purple Matter Gun."

Donnie shook his head. "Didn't see him come in."

Now he was worried. It wasn't like Raph to be out so long without saying he would be. He had assumed his brother would be gone for a couple hours tops. Leo banged his fist on the desk startling Donnie. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Oh, Sorry." Leo apologized as he headed out. "I'm gonna go look for Raph. I shouldn't have let him leave on his own last night. Something could have happened."

"Should I come too?" Donnie offered, although uncertainty was evident in his eyes as he glanced back at his work.

Leo smiled back at him. "No man. Mikey has been missing longer so you just need to focus on bringing him home. I'll focus on finding Raph."

With that he left the lair to search for his brother.

…

He was hungry, tired, and in pain. There was absolutely no way to tell time in this dimension since there was no sun. Mikey quickly caught his breath before starting another assault of attacks on his opponents who seemed much stronger than his brothers.

Suddenly he was tripped by Donnie and summersaulted near the edge again. The flames licked at his face causing the turtle to roll back and stand only to receive a punch from Raph.

"Gah!" Mikey shouted in pain. His skin was bruised and battered from receiving such hits for the past ten hours. What's more was how he found himself unable to land a successful hit with his right hand. If he so much as lifted it a sharp pain shot through his whole shoulder, indicating that it may be broken.

"Come on, time out!" He cried hopefully. However his pleas went unanswered as Leo shoved him from behind into another punch from Raph, this one hitting him right in the gut.

He felt nauseous now and fell to his knees.

'Weak.'

The word rolled around in his head and echoed loudly. He could almost swear it was coming from the dummies who surrounded him. As a last ditch effort he balanced on his left hand and did a spin kick to trip the three.

They fell but quickly recovered. Mikey then did another kick at Donnies face and managed to knock him near the edge for the first time. Finally he had made some progress and did likewise with the other two. It was difficult getting the three near the edge, especially in his exhausted state, but he had to. Otherwise risk being thrown into the pit himself.

Leo ducked his next attempted kick and grabbed his foot. "Uh oh!" Was all Mikey could utter before being tossed near the edge himself. This time he slid halfway over and held on for dear life as he began to fall further into the flames that ate at his left leg.

"Gaaaahh!" He screamed in pain. The adrenaline from this new injury was enough to help him climb back over but he found himself unable to stand now.

Donnie stood over him with an evil grin.

"Bro?" Mikey called uncertainly. Then was punched in the face and fell backwards towards the fire again. He barely stopped himself but was kicked in the stomach by Leo who made him fall further off the ledge.

His shell was burning intensely as the fire ate away at it. Slowly he rolled away till he was laying sideways facing the three who stood before him. Now they stood taking turns kicking him in the gut.

"St-stop!" He shouted, but it did no good. So he grabbed one of the feet and pulled, causing Leo to fall over, taking Donnie down with him.

Mikey stood on his one good leg now and focused on Raph who grinned and jumped in the air. His body spun around and let out a powerful mid-air kick at Mikeys face. But he was ready this time and rolled away as his brother went flying over him.

As he stood he turned to find the three of them standing near the edge now. All he had to do was make one good shove at them and they would fall into the pit.

Mikey stood at the ready while carefully testing his burned leg as he prepared his attack. Then, just as he was about to attack he hesitated. All his memories of growing up with his brothers flew through his head. Every time he would be attacked by Raph for eating the last piece of pizza, every time he and Donnie went on missions together. Just all the good times he had back home with them. They were his brothers, how could he possibly throw them into a burning pit? Even if they were fake, he just couldn't.

Having come to this conclusion he sat down with his head drooped. "I can't you guys."

Suddenly the flames died out and the room darkened. Soon he couldn't even see the three dummies anymore. "Is it nap time?" He asked, half delirious as the room began to reform. The light slowly returned and soon he found himself back home in the lair.

He looked around surprised before slowly attempting to stand again on his one good leg. Once the realization that he was home had hit him he could feel the relief wash over him, only to make something even more urgent come to mind and he suddenly crossed his legs.

"Bathroom!" He called as he hurried off.

…

Donnie was half asleep as he worked away on his newest invention. If his calculations were correct then using the Purple Matter trail that he had discovered with his helmet back near the warehouse, he would be able to use a piece of Mikeys genetic material to draw him back through the same path. In this case he was using one of his brothers toenail clippings.

A spark flew up as he worked at it, shocking him on the finger. He shook his hand vigorously before sticking his finger in his mouth and continuing with his work. He can't stop now, not when he was so close. There was no telling where his brother was sent to. Whether he was in danger or worse!

Thinking of such things he also recalled that both Raph and Leo had been gone for quite some time. He took off his work goggles and looked around in case he hadn't noticed them come in. April came up to him then with a bowl of ramen.

"Hey April, have you seen Raph or Leo since this morning?" He asked worriedly.

The girl shook her head. "Nope, but I'm sure they're alright. They're your brothers so they can handle anything right? Anyways you need to eat. You've been working nonstop since yesterday. Take a break." She offered.

He glanced back at the contraption on the table. It hadn't even begun to take form yet and was more of a messy pile than anything. "I supposed a few minutes won't kill me."

…

Leo had searched all through the city to find his brother but with no luck. It was already noon so the others would probably be wondering where he was by now. Perhaps Raph had already gone home by now?

There was a good chance of that. Thinking such he began heading home empty handed and with high hopes.

…

"Raph? Leo? Donnie?" Mikey called. "You guys here?"

The lair was empty. Not even Master Splinter or April seemed to be anywhere. He limped over groggily to the couch in front of the TV and sat carefully to look at his leg. It was charred and raw. The blisters were beginning to form already, some filled with blood.

"That's not good. I wish Donnie was here. Or someone with a band aid." He muttered before hearing someone approach him from behind. Turning slowly he spotted his brothers just arriving.

"Guy!" He called and tried to stand, only to fall back down and accidentally lean on his broken arm. "Ouch!"

The three looked over at him. "Mikey? Where have you been?" Leo asked.

Mikey tried to sit up with his aching body. "You guys won't believe it. That gun thingy took me to some world that smelled like butt and was full of demons! And there was this dragon that said I had to train with him or die."

"Riiiight." Raph replied sarcastically.

"Seriously! I'm telling the truth, and look!" Mikey used his good hand to point at his badly burned leg. "I got this while training! There were these three dummies there that looked like you guys."

"Are you calling us dummies?" Donnie asked. "Seriously? Look who's talking here."

"But I'm telling the truth! Why won't you guys believe me?"

"Because it's a story from you." Leo replied. "It was a lot quieter around here without you. Why didn't you stay out for a little longer so we could enjoy ourselves?"

"Yeah." Raph agreed. "It's a lot nicer around here when I don't have to hear your annoying voice."

Mikey got flustered. "But guys!"

"But nothing. Go back. We don't want you here." Donnie spoke up, causing Mikey to shut up instantly. "Since you've been gone I haven't had to deal with being teamed up with you. I've gotten so much done without you."

"Donnie…."

"They are right." Came a familiar formal voice. The group turned to find Master Splinter standing on the opposite side of the room. "It has been nice for the past few days. I rather enjoy being able to hear my own thoughts without an inappropriate joke echoing through the halls."

Mikey stood in order to speak, but fell to the floor. "Master Splinter? You too?"

April stepped from beside the great rat and folded her arms. "Yeah, you're pretty annoying. And you don't listen very well."

"And you're weak." Raph included.

"And stupid." Donnie piped up.

"And you just aren't very useful." Leo concluded. "Overall we're much better off without you."

Mikey struggled to stand and limped towards his brothers. "But guys…You're my brothers. Didn't you miss me at all?"

A chorus of 'nope', 'not at all' and 'of course not' was his response from the group. He slouched. "But, I missed you guys…"

"You're just useless. What can we say?" Raph replied. "I mean, you couldn't even shove those dummies into the fire just because they looked like us."

"How did you know about that?"

"You said."

"No I didn't. I mean, I don't think I did. Did I?" Mikey began to second guess himself.

Donnie elbowed Leo slightly. "Look at that, he's so stupid he confused himself."

Leo laughed. "Doesn't he always?"

Mikey listened to them laugh over his confusion before finally arguing. "Stop it! Stop it! I'm not any of those things you're saying!"

"Then prove it!" Raph cut his laugh short.

"I will!"

"Do it!" Raph shouted. "Prove it! Prove you're not weak! Prove you're not just an extra in our group!"

Forgetting the pain and hunger Mikey found himself more and more irritated at his brothers before finally snapping and running at the three. They stood surprised as Mikey shoved all three of them into the pit of fire.

He was now standing all alone in the training room as the three dummies burned in the flames below.


	6. Your Own Enemy

Your Own Enemy

"Did Raph come home yet?" Leo asked as he returned.

Donnie was still focused on his device. "Nope."

The sounds of combat rang through the halls as Splinter and April trained in the next room. Leo wandered over and watched them for a moment as he thought to himself. There was no reason for Raph to stay out so long. He had to be in danger. At this Leo had made up his mind and turned to Donnie.

"Donnie. I need you to come with me." He announced, to which his brother turned groggily.

"Why?"

"Because Raph's been missing for far too long. I think something happened to him. If he wasn't able to handle whatever it was himself then it's going to take the both of use to get him back. You can work on that when we get back."

Donnie thought it over before slowly standing. "Yeah. I guess I could use a break." He stifled a yawn and followed his brother out.

…

Raph slowly came to his senses to find himself strapped to a table. His arms and legs were held down by steel cuffs. At his neck was a strange collar that was so tight he could barely breathe.

"Oh, you're awake?" Stockman's voice called out. "Good. I want to make sure you're awake for what I have planned for you."

"Let me go." The turtle tried to demand, but his voice was weak as he was still recovering from the knockout gas. "What…Where did you get the gun…?" He spoke slowly as he tried to collect his thoughts.

Stockman approached the table he was strapped to and reached for something above Raph's head. "You mean the Transdimensional Transporter?"

"Uh…If you mean that silver and purple…Gun thing then yeah…"

"Oh that! Well you see I was trying to build a transporter myself. I thought, 'Wouldn't it be neat if I could teleport anywhere I wanted?' But then something went wrong and it exploded. I was ready to give up but while cleaning it up I found the gun just sitting there, glowing with that creepy purple stuff. I tested it on a few of my mousers at first before calling them back and using their new cameras to see where they went. As it turned out they really did go to another universe! It was so amazing to think I finally had so much power in my grasp! But then the Purple Dragons stole it from me! And then the Foot got a hold of it, and this and that. I really don't know how it got to be passed around but by the time I found out all of this I heard it was broken. Go figure they'd do that after everything I've done for them."

Raph's head began to clear up as he listened to the man. "Wait…So you made the gun? But Donnie said it was from another dimension to begin with?"

"That's right." Stockman smiled. "When my transporter broke it caused some sort of reaction in space and time that drew the gun to this universe! I've been trying to duplicate it, as you saw when you snuck in earlier. But I haven't had much success yet."

The turtle looked down and focused on the man's words. "If you were able to draw that gun here from another dimension, then maybe Donnie could use it to get Mikey back from wherever he was sent!"

"Maybe." Stockman agreed then pulled a suspended ball of weapons out from above the turtles head. It was very similar to something the dentists used, only there were more than just lights and magnifying glasses attached to it. Raph began to struggle at the sight of the drills, spikes, and knives.

"But I'd rather we do this."

"Bring it!" Raph called out. "I can take it Stinkbutt!"

"Stockman! Baxter Stockman!" The man stomped his foot. "You turtles have caused me enough trouble! Just killing you won't be enough so I'm going to make you wish you were dead by the time I'm done with you!"

"Yeah, whatever." Raph rolled his eyes. "You don't have it in you."

The man stopped his little rant and pushed a button on the machine above Raphael. The drills began spinning and a few of the nozzles began spitting flames. "We'll see about that."

…

Mikey had blacked out after the flames disappeared, but now as he came to he found himself in total darkness. He rolled over to push himself up only to fall face down as a sharp pain shot through his arm. It was still broken.

"Dude, this stinks…" He muttered as he tried to stand again. This time he cringed as the burnt flesh on his leg tore off. It had stuck to the floor while he was unconscious. "Gah! Not cool…"

His belly began to rumble loudly. Looking around he saw absolutely no way out. Then a pair of red eyes shined down on him. "You have passed."

"Great, when's lunch?" He asked as the darkness around him began a familiar whirlwind before tightening into a knot and molding itself into the form of Master Ryuu. "And can I take a break? I think I need a doctor." He flopped down onto the ground again.

"No." The dragon master replied. "No food or water while training."

"What?" Mikey rolled on his back and flinched as he was reminded of the burns on his shell. "Then when are we going to stop training? Even Master Splinter has to stop for the day."

Ryuu smiled sinisterly. "This is not your Master Splinters training now is it? Here, you are under my command. And so long as you are training with me you must do as I say. There are no breaks for my training. You train until you either pass, or die. And while you train you are not to eat or drink. You must fortify your body to endure such things."

"But I don't wanna!" Mikey kicked like a baby throwing a tantrum, but instantly recoiled in pain. "Ouch!"

"Next, you will be training your instincts." Ryuu snapped his claws together and the room went even darker than before.

Mikey looked around in vain only to find that he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face. The sounds of him tripping over himself echoed through the room as the turtle attempted to balance himself. "Hey! What's the big idea here?"

Ryuu's voice echoed through the chamber. "Now you simply must knock down your opponents. Or be killed by them."

"What?"

No answer. Ryuu was gone.

Mikey stood uncertainly on his one good leg. His belly rumbled loudly and his body was sore. Unable to do much else he held his broken arm daintily and looked around. The sounds of multiple opponents caught his attention. He turned around just in time to receive a punch to the face which sent him rolling across the floor.

He stood back up climsily and listened for more opponents. Another attacked him head on but he was able to block it and flip them over. As it hit the floor it disappeared in a bright flash of light which briefly illuminated the entire room long enough for him to see what his opponents looked like.

There were hundreds of them. Each one was armed with various weapons held at the ready and crouched in preparation for attack. He couldn't deny that they were clones of someone he knew very well. Their orange masks clashed with the darkness in their eyes as they grit their teeth maniacally. The horde of Mikeys began their attack as the light faded away, leaving the real Mikey standing injured and unarmed.

…

"I've checked all around town and couldn't find a trace of him." Leo explained.

Donnie yawned again before answering. "So he didn't say where he was going to look?"

Leo shook his head. "Not a word."

Now Donnie looked out over the edge of the building as he contemplated where Raph might be. "Did you think of checking any of Stockboy's labs?"

"I investigated his usual hideouts but with no luck."

"Do you think he retreated to one of his other labs? I mean he did have the gun stolen from him by the Purple Dragons before the Foot came into possession of it. He probably got mad at them and started working in a separate lab. I mean, I know I would quit my job if my boss stole something from me and gave me no credit."

Leo considered this. "I get it. He was working with them before but if they decided to take the gun away from him by force then it would be only natural for him to quit. So that means I was looking in all the wrong places!"

Donnie nodded and covered his mouth as he yawned again. "We just need to check his old labs."

"Okay, lets go!" Leo took off quickly and began jumping across the nearby rooftops, leaving Donnie to stand there half asleep. Once he realized his brother was already gone he snapped back awake and began chasing after him. "Hey Leo! Wait for me!"

**A/N: Thanks for reading! This is my first fan fiction so feel free tell me if something's wrong. Next week I won't have a computer though so there will be a delay in uploading chapters. Don't worry, I plan to finish this. **

**This was inspired by a fan comic.**


	7. Who Can You Trust?

Who Can You Trust?

The attacks kept coming. He couldn't dodge them no matter how hard he tried. Mikey was at his wits end and couldn't do anything about it.

He felt one of them kick the back of his knee causing him to topple over. As he hit the floor something sharp sank into the ground beside his head. Quickly he stood back up only to feel something bite into his left shoulder. Feeling for it he realized it was a Kusarigama blade.

His opponent yanked on it and it ripped out of his flesh causing Mikey to scream. This was a nightmare.

'All you need to do is knock them over. Are you too weak for that?' A voice cut through his thoughts. Sitting up he searched blindly to find nothing but darkness. "Who said that?" He called.

'You're so weak.' The voice repeated. 'You spend all of your energy on games. All you ever do is waste your potential.'

It was his own voice echoing through his head. He was insulting himself.

Another attack swung through the dark. Mikey was able to dodge it only to run into another opponent with nun-chucks. Instantly he felt himself get bashed in the side of the head. A loud ringing sound interrupted his hearing and he wobbled. Then another opponent attacked him head on. He could sense them getting closer and instantly tossed them over his shoulder. It fell on its back and disappeared in a short flash of light.

He knew what he had to do. So he memorized their positions and began his onslaught. Quickly he stole the kusarigama from a nearby enemy and used it to trip over three in a row. As they disappeared he got a glimpse of their new positions in the temporary light and continued his attacks. Some were able to dodge but overall so long as he went for their feet they were easy to trip. One after another they fell. At this point he no longer felt his exhaustion and had received a second wind as he continued in a flurried frenzy of attacks.

One clone knocked his weapons out of his hands so he instantly reacted by stealing theirs. After a brief moment he recognized the feel of it and began swinging the nun-chucks rapidly above his head, knocking two more out. They disappeared in two more flashes thus allowing him more of an advantage. However he felt a little disheartened as he realized there really were hundreds of them. How was he going to keep this up?

…

Stockman laughed maniacally as the device around Raphael's neck continued to electrocute him. The turtle was frozen in place as the electricity ran through his body and jolted him into a stiffened position. After a moment the man flipped a switch and it turned off. A few tendrils of smoke curled up from Raph's burned flesh.

"Had enough?" He asked the turtle who glared back. "Guess not." And flipped the switch back on.

…

"He was here." Leo announced as he found Raph's sai on the ground. However he received no answer and turned to find Donnie asleep on his feet.

"Hey!" He shouted in his brother's ear causing him to jump awake.

"Who? What?" Donnie shouted then realized where he was. "Oh, sorry Leo. I'll stay…" Yawn. "Awake."

Leo felt bad about dragging his brother along in his condition. He obviously needed sleep and could possibly get hurt but he needed Donnie's brains to help him figure out where Raph was. "Alright, just help me figure out where he might have gone from here."

Donnie leaned against the wall and looked around. After a moment he noticed the back door was open. "I think they're still here." He finally explained.

"What?"

He pointed to the opened door so Leo could follow. It led down even further. Surely something was down there.

Donnie forced himself to a standing position and followed his brother downstairs where they came upon a door with a single window. They looked through it to find Raph strapped to a table being tortured by a barrage of drills and mini flame throwers. At the sight of this Donnie woke up instantly. With worry and anger flashing in their eyes the two burst through the door to rescue their brother.

…

The attacks had stopped. Standing still Mikey was unaware that he had closed his eyes. But it didn't matter he couldn't see anyways and stood listening to the silence. Soon he could hear a few more moving and quickly sprinted at them, Kasurigama at the ready. He was able to easily slice through them. They disappeared in a flash of light revealing the room to be empty.

Not believing he had finished he continued to stand at the ready listening to the silence. Nothing.

"Did I win?" He wondered aloud. The sound of applause burst through the silence and a sudden flash of light blinded him. Mikey covered his eyes. Once he was certain that the light was gone he slowly opened them again. He was back in the lair.

"Uh….Hello?" He called. At this point he had become used to the pain that wracked his body. He was even able to forcibly move his broken arm, but just barely.

"Mikey?" He heard Donatello and turned in time to receive a hug from him.

"Donnie?" Mikey asked uncertainly. "Is it really you?"

"Of course it's me!" Donnie replied. "I've been so worried. I spent the whole time you were gone finding a way to bring you back. Everyone missed you."

"So I really am home?" Mikey questioned then received a punch in the face.

"Of course you are." Donnie cooed as though he hadn't just pummeled his brother.

Mikey sat up confused. "Wha-then…Why did you just hit me?"

This time Donnie took out his staff and approached him. "What are you talking about? Now come here so I can treat your wounds. I looks like you got beaten pretty bad." And jabbed him in the gut.

Mikey doubled over and gagged for a moment before another pair of feet entered his vision. It was Leo. "Leo! Help! Donnie is acting really weird!"

Leo looked over at Donnie who shrugged in return. "Mikey, what are you talking about? Donnie is fine. But you're not. Let us help you and you can tell us about where you've been." Leo held his hand out to help him up.

Mikey looked uncertainly at it before grabbing it. "Awe man, I'm so confused." And was suddenly tossed across the room and into the television. "Hey!" He shouted as he scrambled to his feet, now able to endure the burn on his leg. "What was that for?"

"Mikey!" Came Raph's voice. Turning he spotted his brother rushing at him. "Dude! Where have you been? We've been worried sick about you." He stopped just short of a few feet away. "We were worried something bad had happened to you."

He had enough and backed away from all three of them. "I'm not falling for this." He declared as they came closer, confusion on their faces.

"What are you talking about Mikey?" Leo asked. "Let us help you. We're your brothers. Look at yourself, you're clearly delirious."

He hit the wall and found himself cornered. Donnie held his hand out and smiled. "Come on bro, trust us."

Mikey hesitated, but eventually gave it a shot and took the hand he was offered. Unfortunately just like before he was tossed through the air and hit the floor hard. Sitting up he felt like the room was spinning.

"Oh man you're bleeding!" Raph suddenly started. Looking over Mikey realized that the gash in his shoulder from the kasurigama had opened even more and was bleeding severely. Unfortunately he couldn't grab it since his other arm was broken.

The three approached him. "Let us take care of that man." Leo held his arms open as though to say he was harmless. "You can trust us."

Mikey eyed the trio as they stood before him before realizing it was just a lie. Closing his eyes he ignored the pain and rushed at them with one nun-chuck spinning. They dodged but he managed to trip Donnie and knock him unconscious.

"Dude! What are you doing?" Leo shouted drawing attention to himself as Mikey went at him.

He continued with a barrage of jabs and kicks but his brother dodged each one easily. Eventually Leo drew his swords. "Don't make me do this." Leo threatened.

Mikey dropped his nun-chuck and looked his brother in the eye. "Then stop hurting me!"

Leo smiled warmly. "I would never hurt you Mikey." And ran his sword through Mikey's stomach.


	8. Resolutions

Resolutions

Splinter watched over his sons as they were splayed out on the floor. April had helped bandage Raphael up since Donatello was practically asleep on his feet. After laying the two down Leo had remained vigilant over them for hours until falling asleep himself and was currently in a sitting position between both of them.

"It would seem things have become complicated." He spoke to April who stood beside him.

She rubbed her arm anxiously before looking up at the rat. "So what about Mikey?"

Splinters eyes became heavy with worry. He obviously didn't want to admit it, but there was really nothing else he could do or say. "He will have to wait. He is my son and I know I have raised him right. He will be fine."

…

Mikey gripped his wound as Leo removed the blade from his stomach. He waited for the pain to sink in, to make him scream and fall to his knees. Instead he felt nothing.

Pulling his hand away from his stomach he stared at the blood that soaked it. "What's wrong bro?" Asked Leo.

'Get rid of them and this will end.' Announced a new voice, this one in his mind.

"What do you mean?" Mikey asked, to which Leo responded, "I mean, why are you staring at your hand like that?"

Donnie walked up beside Leo. "Hey, what happened to your stomach?" He asked as he got closer to Mikey before jabbing his staff into the open wound. This time he felt it and jumped back immediately.

'Get rid of them and this will end.' He recognized the voice this time. It was Master Ryuu's.

Mikey tried to think about it while staying away from his brothers. 'Get rid of them….'

He looked up at the three of them and held his stomach as it began to bleed profusely. "But they're my brothers."

'Get rid of them and this will end.'

Suddenly one of Raph's sai cut through the air and whizzed past his head. "Ah! Raph! What was that for?"

"What are you talking about bro?" Raph replied with a single sai in hand now. Mikey closed his eyes tightly.

"I don't want to fight you guys!" He shouted at the three who looked at each other before replying.

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked. "You don't have to. Just stand there."

Donnie tapped his staff on the ground. "Yeah, we'll take care of you."

"Besides," Raph continued as he held up his last sai to aim. "It's not like you would win."

That did it. Images of all his training sessions with his brothers flashed through is mind. Every loss, every insult, every supposed brotherly argument. Each time Raph pinned him down and teased him into saying how great he was.

At the back of his mind he knew these were just brotherly quarrels, but an even louder voice was calling in his mind. 'Get rid of them and this will end.'

Slowly he looked each of his brothers in the eye only to see his own reflection, scared and confused. Mikey shook his head furiously and began thinking of other things. His recent training sessions getting rid of the three dummies and fighting the hundreds of clones of himself. This was no different. They were the same so if he tried he could fight them off just like before.

Raph's sai interrupted his thoughts as it whistled through the air. He caught it before it hit and threw it back at his brother. Mikey watched as his brother clasped his hand over his shoulder where it sank in.

"What are you doing?" Donnie shouted as he raised his staff. This time Mikey realized what it was he had to do in order to get out of here and snatched the other end of it, swinging Donnie around the room until he eventually went flying into the wall.

Next up was Leo. Mikey tried to block his swords by lifting up the staff, only for it to be sliced away in sections. Looking down at the pieces he sensed his brother raising his swords again. Thinking fast he kicked up a piece of the broken staff and punched the tiny thing as hard as he could thus propelling it at his brothers face and hitting him in the eye.

Leo shouted out and backed away a few steps giving Mikey enough time to kick him in the gut. As his brother doubled over he knocked him on the head and stole his swords.

'Get rid of them and this will end.' Ryuu's voice was louder this time. Mikey shook his head again to silence it only to realize someone was coming up from behind him. Immediately he spun around and swiped away with the swords only to find he had hit Raphael.

Stunned, Mikey watched as his brother fell to the ground. The sword had only hit his shell but it was still a shock to know he had nearly hurt him. Then Leo attacked and once again he swung the swords around to cut him down. Now Leo was on his knees next to Raph with Mikey standing over them with the swords drawn.

'Get rid of them and this will end.' Ryuu's voice was even more persistent than before.

Mikey raised the swords above his head with is eyes stuck on both of his brothers. He hesitated for a split second then brought the blades down as hard as he could on their heads.

Everything disappeared into smoke, even the swords in his hands and he was back in the training room. He didn't feel anything anymore and as he stood there he felt a clawed hand tighten on his shoulder as Ryuu stood behind him.

"Now you are ready for the real training." The dragon growled.

…

"Waaaah!" Raph shouted as he bolted upright waking both his brothers in a panic.

"Raph it's alright. Look, we're home." Leo replied after realizing the situation. Donnie sighed deeply before standing up and stretching. "Man what happened?"

"We saved Raph from Dexter Stockguy after beating him to a pulp and leaving him at the police station."

Raph raised his hand to steady his dizzy head only to find it wrapped in bandages. "How bad was I?" He asked quietly.

Both Donnie and Leo looked worriedly at him. "He had you pinned down pretty bad." Donnie explained. "He was torturing you while you were drugged so you couldn't fight back."

Raphael slammed his fist into the palm of his hand only to pull it back and wag it in pain. "Ouch!"

Leo put a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't worry Raph, we got him for you. So just rest."

"Speaking of which," Donnie interrupted. "Now that I'm rested up and Raph seems fine I think I'll get back to work."

"Wait Donnie!" Raph called just as the turtle turned to head towards his lab. "I think I found something that will help bring Mikey home!"

Leo and Donnie focused their attention on him just as Splinter came to check up on them. "Dexter whatever had found a way to bring that gun to this world. He's trying to do it again by building some sort of teleportation machine. He said when his first attempt had exploded it called the gun here from another universe." Raph explained to the best of his knowledge. Techy stuff was more Donnie's field. "I think if we let him build it then we can use it to bring Mikey back!"

"You know I think that might actually work!" Donnie exclaimed. "I mean what I was going to do was build a device capable of following the purple matter trail left by the explosion to locate the dimension Mikey was sent to then using bits of his DNA to draw him back using the same interdimensional pathway, but since I was having trouble figuring out the proper algorithm for the power expulsion I think using Bexter Stickman's data will help tremendously!"

His brothers were staring at him like he was speaking some strange language.

"Er…" Donnie corrected himself sheepishly. "I mean I think that's a good idea."

"Just one problem." Leo ruined the moment. "We put him in jail."

They stood in silence as this fact was revealed before Raph spoke up. "Then I guess we need to pay him a little visit."

**A/N: So apparently Michealangelo is supposedly considered the first Ninja Turtle. Why? Because when the series was first developed the very first character sketch was of a turtle wielding nun-chucks (But not technically Michealangelo). This is according to Wikipedia though. I don't know if it's accurate but it's still interesting.**

**Once again, thanks for reading!**


	9. A Change in Personality

A Change in Personality

"Kung Fu is a completely different art than Ninjutsu." Ryuu explained as he and Michealangelo walked through the stone garden. A few demons stood at the borders raking the sand around the boulders that decorated it.

"How hard can it be?" Mikey commented sarcastically. Earlier he was able to ignore his injuries due to the adrenaline pumping through his veins, but now that it was all over his entire body ached. He could feel every hit he took. What's more he hadn't slept for days, nor eaten anything since he got here. How is he still alive?

Ryuu smirked at the turtle's response. "Oh, I'm sure you'll understand."

They had made it to the edge of the stone garden and were now standing at a cliff. Below them was a drop off filled with fog. All they could see were various poles sticking up out of the fog with a few demons balancing on them while performing complex maneuvers. "You are to go down there. The guardian of the crater will show you what you need to learn. Only after you learn it will you be permitted to return to flat ground."

"So I gotta train on those poles?" He asked uncertainly as he looked down into the fog. "What happens if I fall in?"

"You die." Ryuu replied flatly. "Now go, or I'll kill you where you stand."

Mikey huffed and straightened his stance before jumping down into the crater. He didn't even care if he fell. He was so sore and hungry all he wanted was a sandwich at least.

As he found his footing upon two poles something squirmed through the fog below. For a moment the image of a shark in water came to mind, only in this case it wasn't in water. As he watched it circle him a tail whipped out and slapped one of his feet.

"Ouch!" he shouted as he hopped on one foot. As soon as he placed it on another pole to hold his balance his other foot got whipped again. "Hey!"

As he stood on one foot an enormous head arose from the fog. It was a white snake with burning red eyes and black stripes. The creature hissed at him before speaking.

"You may only use one pole at a time." The quiet voice whispered. "Otherwise I will knock you down to your death."

Mikey groaned warily as the serpent shape shifted into a demonic form. It had a slender body, with a bald head and scaled skin. His eyes were the same. "Now do as I do. After you get the order down you must practice it until you have it perfected."

"Then I can leave?" Mikey asked hopefully. "Cuz, you know, I got places to be and all."

The snake demon flashed a mouthful of fangs at him. "No. Then you must defeat me in battle using the technique I teach you or die."

…

Donnie had hacked into the surveillance cameras at the police station and was currently sitting in the Shell Raiser keeping watch. Leo crept along the shadows watching the cameras for them to shut off as he passed by undetected.

Raph didn't like it but he was forced to stay home and recover. His wounds had been too severe for Splinter to let him out quite yet. However they didn't want to risk losing another brother and did all they could to convince him to stay put.

An officer turned a corner just as Leo approached. A small gust of wind caught the man's attention but as he looked around he failed to see anything and continued on his way. What he didn't see was the turtle up above clinging to the ceiling and keeping out of sight. Once the footsteps disappeared down the hallways he dropped down and continued till he found the cell room where Stockman was kept.

He easily picked the lock and slunk in only to find it empty with a note stamped with the Purple Dragon's symbol. Apparently someone had helped with his escape just moments earlier.

Frustration boiled up at this revelation and Leo slammed his fist down into the ground. The thump alerted the guard outside who came rushing in only to find the empty cell. Immediately he went to alert the other cops of the escaped prisoner as Leonardo crept out of the building empty handed.

…

The movements were subtle at first, but quickly sped up as he copied the demons motions. It only took him a few tries to get it memorized. Once the demon noticed he nodded at the turtle. Mikey was about to ask what else there was but before he could utter a sound the demon burst as though caught in an explosion, only instead of smoke and fire he found an enormous coiled snake. It hissed violently at him before diving back down into the fog.

"Okay, so I practice until I get it perfected." He mumbled to himself as he began his stance. "One two three, one two three, one two three." Mikey began coaching himself as though he were dancing. After a few hours he had gotten used to balancing on the staffs with only one foot, but it still hurt. After a bit the soles of his feet became numb to the pain and he was able to practice without noticing them.

A few more hours into his practice he heard a scream. Across the crater he noticed one of the other demons who were training. He had apparently tried to climb out before perfecting the motions and was caught up by the giant snake and dragged down into the fog. Mikey gulped and continued on, now knowing what would happen if he gave up.

'He really made running away into an art.' he heard a voice in the back of his head.

'At least he's good at something.'

'Sort of.'

It was another memory from his brothers picking on him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but he still knew what they had been talking about. It was hard to recall which of his brothers each voice belonged to now but it didn't matter, all he knew was they were insulting him. Mikey knew he was good at many things but his brothers didn't appreciate any of his talents because they had nothing to do with fighting. Well if that was the case then he would become better than them. He would become such a great fighter that even Raphael would have no choice but to acknowledge him!

"I can be good at things." He muttered to himself as he kicked into the air harder than before. "They don't know what I'm capable of. They never trust me." He triple punched the air in one second and continued his training stance. "I'll be better than the three of them!" He finally shouted and jumped into the air to spin around three times before landing on one pole with his hand. As he balanced with his legs in the air he pushed up and did a back flip until he landed on the pole next to him back in his starting stance. "I'll show them."

The fog around him rippled violently as the snake surrounded him. As it coiled around the set of poles encompassing him it poked its head up. "Very good. You have perfected the maneuver in record time."

Mikey lost his stance and stared at the creature as it molded back into its humanoid demon form. "What? Seriously? That fast?"

"You have talent. And from what I've seen it has not been fully utilized before. Now let us see what else you can do."

With that the snake demon jumped towards him and spun around in midair to strike the pole Mikey was standing on. It exploded as the demon's fist hit it. Mikey jumped back and almost lost his balance. Oddly enough he found it easier to move from pole to pole quickly by flipping from them.

The demon flew at him with lightening speed only for the turtle to flip over his back and land on a pole behind him. Mikey turned and stuck his tongue out before dropping from the pole and diving into the fog.

The demon grinned. "You may have a talent for martial arts, but you are not very smart are you?"

A series of violent coughs was heard as Mikey soon realized just how toxic the fog was to breathe. As quickly as he could he hopped from one pole to another in order to make it back above the mist. Once his lungs were clear of the fumes he barely dodged a fist to the face and flipped to the next three poles over. The demon stood on one leg smiling menacingly at him. "You know how we snakes produce venom? Well mine is more of a gas like substance which I used to fill this crater. Below it are the skeletons of those who have failed my training."

Mikey huffed before performing a hand stand on the pole again. The demon snarled and lunged at the turtle only for him to fall into the fog again.

"How stupid are you?" The demon growled. "Do you plan to kill yourself before I can?"

Suddenly Mikey emerged from the mist behind the snake and knocked him in while standing in his place. "Hah! Take that!" He shouted before a cruel laugh cut him off.

The snake nimbly climbed back up the pole. "I created this fog you think it's dangerous to me?"

Mikey thought back to how the snake had been practically swimming in it earlier and realized how stupid his idea was.

'Idiot.' He could hear Raph's voice insulting him. Quickly he shook his head and angrily lunged at the snake, this time taking the offensive. He began spin kicking the snake and flipping out of the way to dodge the counter attacks. Soon he became agile enough to avoid each attack and counter with a few jabs of his own. After a bit however he realized every time he attacked using the technique he had just learned the snake would dodge or block it easily. There had to be another way to win this.

He jumped one more time at the snake as though to make an attack. The demon lifted his hands to block, only to be met with a cloud of smoke as the turtle instead hit him with a smoke bomb. Confused and blinded the demon spun around expecting an attack from behind only to be knocked off the pole with a kick to the back. Mikey hadn't even bothered to move after throwing the smoke bomb and knew the snake would turn around so he had continued his trajectory to catch him off guard.

As the demon fell into the fog Mikey held his breath and dived down after him. Just as his opponent grabbed onto a pole to stop his fall the turtle slammed into him with the force of gravity and knocked him in the head. The demon's grip loosened and he fell even further until he hit the bone covered pit below. Here Mikey jumped from the pole and slammed his foot into the demon's face. Satisfied he began climbing up the poles until he made it above the fog once again and gasped for air. As he did so he heard a massive thunder shock and the fog rippled violently as the enormous snake reappeared. Its head reared high above him, fangs exposed and eyes wild. At first it appeared ready to strike again but soon it calmed and looked down at him, it's head bobbing from side to side as though dizzy.

"Hey snake!" Mikey called, catching the dazed monster's attention. "What do you get when you cross Ninjutsu with Kung Fu?"

It began falling back into the fog as it finally fainted from the blow to its head.

Mikey watched with a smug grin on his face. "That's right. You get your butt kicked."


	10. Doesn't It Bother You?

Doesn't It Bother you?

"So I guess Shredder decided he still has use for the guy." Donnie muttered as he and Leo sat in the Shell Raiser. "I thought he quit working for him after the gun was taken away?"

"I have no idea." Leo replied as he drove down the streets. "I just know we're gonna have a heck of a time finding him now."

Donnie worried over this for a few blocks before his suspicions made way. "You don't think the Shredder is going to force him to bring another Purple Matter Gun to this dimension so he can use it do you?"

Leo shook his head while keeping his eyes on the road. "I have no idea, but that's probably the case."

"We're going to have to hurry then."

…

Ryuu frowned at the collapsed turtle. From the look of it he had climbed out of the pit and fainted once he made it to flat ground. This was unacceptable and he swiftly belted the turtle on the head with a slap.

"I'm up!" Mikey shouted as he shot to his feet. "Oh, it's you Master." He recognized the yokai's form before his knees buckled.

"You are hungry." Ryuu remarked.

Michealangelo was now laying on his back. His head felt like it was going to explode as his belly gnawed away at itself. "Maybe just a little."

"Come." The dragonoid began walking away leaving the turtle to hoist himself back to his feet and follow. After a short distance the clouds seemed to swarm them from above and block their view. Michealangelo kept his pace without a problem and became able to sense the presence of obstacles that would otherwise make him trip. Then the ground began to narrow and he stepped accordingly to prevent himself from falling over. Did he just walk onto a log?

"Shall we review your lessons thus far?" Ryuu's voice cut through the fog like a knife.

Mikey shrugged blindly. "Sure. I'm pretty full from my stomach eating itself so I think it'll stop growling long enough for me to hear."

A dark chuckle greeted him. "Lesson one, perseverance. Those training dummies I had you fight took the forms of those closest to you. Not many are able to throw them into the pit of fire. One would have to put aside personal attachment to reach their goal and pass."

"You call the perseverance? I call it shoving dummies into a fire." The turtle mumbled.

"Lesson two, adaptation. You had to adapt to the situation. Fighting in the dark and using what little light you had to gain an advantage over your foes. You have gained a keen ability to see without seeing."

"I was tripping myself in the dark." Mikey once again mumbled under his breath.

"Lesson three, focus. You learned how to balance while learning a complex maneuver, and then defeated an enemy by thinking alternatively to your given directions."

"Would not have worked if he fought me in his huge snake form."

"Are you done?" Ryuu's voice was clearly irritated indicating he had heard everything Mikey had said.

"Yes sir." Mikey replied quickly once he realized he hadn't been as quiet as he thought he was.

The fog began to clear. Master Ryuu was standing in front of him. They were both at the base of a very tall canyon. "Look behind you." He instructed.

Mikey turned around only to find that he had been walking on a string that stretched across the gaping mouth of a pitch black chasm. "Aiiii!" He shouted as he stepped away from the edge. "Did I seriously just walk across that blindly?"

"Yes." The Yokai answered. "Thanks to your lessons you are in the proper state of mind to complete your beginners training. Through all three of your lessons you have also learned endurance by training through your pain and hunger. This final lesson is that of inner strength."

"Inner strength?" Mikey wondered. "How's that work?"

Ryuu turned and walked forward until he was standing in front of an enormous boulder. It towered over the yokai's seemingly small figure like an impenetrable giant. The demon reached out his hand and flicked the boulder with one finger, somehow slicing it in half and causing the back of it to explode.

"Whoa!" The turtle stooped over in awe, mouth agape.

"Chi is the power of the universe. It is all around us, inside us. And when it is inside us it is referred to as a chakra." He began to explain. "There are various kinds of chakra that are channeled through the body, without chi there is no chakra. In order to achieve true strength you must master control of it. Bend it to your will."

Mikey scratched his head. "So I need to lift weights or something?"

The demon shook his head. "No. You must create a center within yourself. Something to focus on in order to push this chakra outwards, like I did with this boulder. Find something that can create a strong emotion within yourself."

"So it's like Peter Pan right? In order to fly I need to make a happy memory." He folded his arms and thought for a moment. "Oh I know! There was the time Donnie found out how to make smoke…Bombs…." He slowed his pace as the memory of his brother pained him for some strange reason.

"What is it?" Ryuu wondered.

Mikey averted his eyes. "Nothing, I just thought about my brother and felt a little…I don't know."

"Angry?"

"What? No way. Why would I be angry with any of my brothers?" Mikey smiled sheepishly as he put a hand behind his head. "They're my family after all."

"That's too bad. Anger is a very powerful tool. It can prove useful when channeling energy."

"It can?"

A dark glint shined from Ryuu's eyes. "Don't you know anyone who fights better when angry?"

Of course Raphael came to mind. "Yeah, maybe. But it also got him in trouble once."

"How?"

"Well, we're ninja's. We're supposed to be quiet and move undetected. When he got angry he would give away our position."

"But Kung Fu is the opposite of Ninjutsu. Instead of hiding in the shadows and sneaking around it is about power and how you use it."

Mikey made a face. "I guess that would make sense then."

"Have any of your brothers made you angry recently?"

The turtle turned around and gazed into the chasm for a bit as he contemplated his answer. "No…I…Don't know. Sad maybe, but only sometimes."

"Have they never given you reason to be angry with them?" The yokai continued more persistent than before. "Have they ever insulted you? Mistrusted you? Do they even acknowledge you?"

'Yes yes and no.' The voice in his head called out. He began to feel that familiar rage again, just like when he was training on the poles. He thought about what Ryuu had said and realized that maybe he had a reason to be angry.

"No!" He suddenly shouted. "They're my brothers! They're just joking around with me that's all."

Hot breath on his cheek caught his attention. "Are they really?" He spun around only to see Ryuu standing by the broken boulder still.

"How did you..?"

"Enough chatter. Let us begin." The demon clapped his hands and an enormous four armed monster came out. Its skin was a dark grey with red cracks like a lava pit. He wore a pair of crude pants but had no eyes. "All you have to do is toss him." Ryuu answered. "He is the guardian of that peach tree over there."

Mikey looked behind the towering creature to see the tree full of plump ripe peaches. Food.

"Why is he guarding a tree?"

"Because students are not permitted to eat while training. At least not unless they earn it."

"So I just toss him and I can eat?"

Mater Ryuu nodded. "And knocking him over doesn't count. You must find your center and use it to channel the chi around you into strength and with it, pick him up off the ground and toss him into the chasm below."

"What!?" Mikey exclaimed. "So far it's only been dummies, now I actually have to kill someone?"

"Well if you would prefer to be killed yourself then go ahead and just stand there." The dragon smirked before transforming and flying away in a serpentine manner. Mikey watched for a moment before being bashed in the side and sprawling across the rocky ground near the edge of the cliff.

"Not this again…." He groaned.


	11. Inner Strength or Weakness?

Inner Strength or Weakness?

"This is most troubling indeed." Splinter remarked after hearing Donatello's theory. "If the Shredder gains control over the flow of time then he will disrupt the harmony of the universe."

"And possibly create a hole in the fabric of space and time by creating some sort of paradox that could destroy everything as we know it." Donnie pointed out.

"Yes. That is what I meant."

"Oh…" He stooped. He and Leonardo had gone back to the lair to discuss what had happened with the others as well as break the bad news.

Raphael stepped up. "Okay, so bad things will happen if the Shredder gets his paws on the gun. But what about Mikey?"

Splinter closed his eyes and meditated momentarily. "We must bring him home."

"But how?" Donnie cut in. "I can't bring him home without the proper algorithms used in the power expulsion unit and only that Stocker guy knows it, and he's kind of hanging with Shredder right now. Not to mention I don't think he's in the mood for a friendly scientific chat after we put him in prison."

Leo had been sitting back listening to the conversation as he tried his best to come up with a solution. Finally he had a plan.

"I got it!" He called, drawing attention to himself.

"Got what?" Donnie asked.

"We let him make the machine!" Leo suggested. "Then if another purple matter gun appears we steal it from him and Donnie can modify it to bring Mikey home. And after that we destroy it."

"One problem with that."

"What?"

"If he can draw one gun to this universe then he can build more machines to do it again. So stealing one won't work."

"Gah!" Raph shouted after hearing Donnie's conundrum. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Leo slumped. "That's all I got."

"Unless…." April spoke up finally. "Unless you steal the gun and use it to stop all of this from ever happening in the first place!"

They all gawked at her. "But April," Donnie finally spoke. "Not to counter an idea from you…But that might create a paradox."

"It's worth a shot." Leo declared. "What's worse? The Shredder having control over space and time, or altering it ourselves to stop him and bring our brother home?"

Donnie sighed. "Okay. We'll risk it."

…

They were so close but just out of reach. Mikey stretched his arm as far as it could go wishing he could temporarily detach it somehow. It would be much easier to get at least one peach that way. However that was not the case as the giant four armed monster currently had him pinned down on the ground next to the peach tree. He thought that perhaps a mad dash for it would throw the great beast off guard and made it only a few feet away from the nearest fallen peach before being body slammed.

"You….Really need….To go on a diet!" He grunted under the enormous weight. He wasn't going to get that peach any time soon with this hulk holding him down.

Suddenly it reared a third arm and smashed the peach into mush, spraying the turtles face. Mikey just gazed at it dumbfounded before getting irritated. "All right that does it!" He shouted and turned the focus of his free arm on the demon. It didn't even bother to tense up as his opponent aimed at him with his frail fist.

"Man you're like stone." He commented after attempting to pummel him in the side. Then he stuck a single finger out and began tickling the beast. "Gitchy gitchy goo!" He cooed as it began to squirm.

Eventually it wriggled away just enough for him to pull himself out from under it and dash away. He had made it all the way back to the edge of the chasm before turning around and sticking his tongue out. "Na na! Look who got away!" He turned around and slapped his thigh at the beast. "Ha! I got you good!" And then realized he had run away from the peach tree, not closer. "Aw man…."

The great monster charged at him but he leapt out of the way just in time. Looking down he was surprised to realize how many injuries he had accumulated over the course of his training, especially since he had become numb to the pain. The only thing he could really feel was the hunger eating away at him from the inside.

Mikey was tempted to jump at the creature and knock it over the ledge just to make it to the peach tree, but he knew that would be cheating and Ryuu would be angry. So instead he decided to take a shot and run up to the creature and attempted to lift him by the foot. He gripped the creature's toes and strained upwards with all his might. His cheeks became inflated and red as his efforts went unfounded. He grunted and strained against gravity itself before suddenly getting dizzy. The sensation of flying overtook him and for a moment he was elated. Then he smashed into the wall of the canyon unaware he had been picked up and tossed.

His sore body began to ach anew and he groggily sat up. The four armed demon was charging head long towards him. Mikey barely managed to dodge just in time for the brute to crash into the rocky wall. As he watched it crumble down Mikey couldn't help but feel a sense of hopelessness.

'Chi is all around you' Ryuu's voice cut through. 'You must channel it into strength.'

"And how do I do that?" Mikey shouted as he rolled out from in front of the creature. Turning around he leapt and head butted it desperately. It barely took a step back giving the turtle time to recover his footing. Another strike to its abdomen did absolutely nothing. He couldn't help but think this battle was impossible.

'Anger is a powerful tool.' Ryuu's voice continued to penetrate his consciousness. 'It is very powerful when channeling energy.'

"How do I get angry? I've never gotten really angry before!" Mikey replied in haste as he dodged another powerful fist.

'Haven't you?'

Those few words echoed in his head. The idea rolled around and slowly grew until he couldn't get it out of his mind.

He held his head and shook it left and right rapidly to stop the voices that echoed repeatedly. 'Haven't you? Haven't you? Haven't you!?'

He suddenly began reliving the events of his life. All the moments his brothers rejected his ideas, claimed he had no talent, called him weak...

'Anger is a very powerful tool when channeling energy.'

Raphael came to mind at that point. Mikey remembered how he was always easily defeated by his brother, how he always rubbed it in his face. What's more was how they never went with his plans no matter what. He even saved them once but they just took no notice of it. In the end Leo was just angry with him for what he did with his comics regardless of the fact that Mikey had only done such a thing to help his brother.

All the things he had brushed off as brotherly arguments suddenly came to the surface. Mikey closed his eyes and focused on them, gingerly separating each of the moments and sorting them out mentally. They were soon occurring in increasingly insulting order until eventually he began to feel that sense of irritation. It was a very familiar sense of irritation he had come across before. However Mikey had always done his best to brush it off, thinking of everything as a joke. He indulged himself in the idea that life was just like a game and nothing was to be taken too seriously, everything would work itself out eventually….Right?

A muscular arm suddenly got a hold of his leg and tossed him into the wall of the canyon. While he lay in the rubble his injuries thus far became more evident, knocking him back to reality. This wasn't a game. Life isn't a game. If he didn't do something soon he was going to die.

Thinking back he realized how silly some of the things he had done must have been, but that's no reason for him to be constantly insulted. He tried to participate in things with his brothers, pitch ideas for plans, train alongside them. And yet they didn't really give him the time of day.

For the first time in a long time Mikey concentrated hard on his feelings. He recalled his entire life, seemingly fun and carefree but riddled with ridicule. He had the right to live the way he wanted to, but when he tried to work with his brothers they didn't appreciate it. And what's more every time he did something right they thought it was some sort of accident or flaw. It was like Mikey just wasn't allowed to have a good idea or prove himself in any way.

He grit his teeth in frustration as his eyes flicked open just in time to spot the behemoth charging again. The turtle nimbly jumped up and over the creature and landed just behind him.

"It was never an accident." He muttered as he ran up to the great beast and tried to lift it by the foot again. "I can do things right sometimes. Just because it doesn't happen a lot doesn't mean it's impossible."

The demon wiped the small turtle away like a fly. As Michealangelo lay sprawled out on the hard ground he stared up into the strange purplish sky of this world. No sun, no moon. Just the black clouds rolling by. Time didn't matter here.

He pushed himself up from the ground and glared at the creature. "I'm done running!" He shouted at the creature and closed his eyes again. This time he didn't focus on the memories, he focused instead on his emotions. Soon it bubbled up inside of him, swelling in his chest. He took a deep breath before slowly exhaling. Every second became uncountable as he soon became aware of everything around him. The world had become some sort of slow motion scene. He opened his eyes and observed the fist as it slowly approached his face. His usual instinct to dodge itched away at the back of his mind, but a louder voice was shouting 'No! Don't give in! You can do this!'

He concentrated on the sensation in his chest and focused it into his hands. As the fist came within reach he suddenly shot both hands out, palms flat, and caught it. The immense pressure from the impact shot through his arms. His shoulders shook at the force and he found himself sliding backwards on his feet as the beast continued to push. However once he was over the shock from the contact he braced his legs against the ground and stopped the monster in its tracks. Soon he found himself standing against the enormous fist of the four armed demon just on the edge of the chasm.

For a moment Mikey stared at his supposedly broken arm in wonder not sure how he was able to use it let alone how he was able to stop this creatures rampage. But then he brushed this from his mind and decided to just go with it as he pushed the fist away from himself.

The four armed demon stepped back surprised as the turtle began a barrage of punches upon its chest. Each hit knocked him back a few footsteps until finally the turtle disappeared. The monster turned its head frantically to avoid another hit only for the ninja to appear in a puff of smoke on his shoulder and punch him in the face. The blow hit right between where the eyes would be and successfully knocked the demon out cold.

The whole canyon seemed to shake as the beast hit the ground. Mikey jumped off in time to brace himself before standing back up and staring at his arms in wonder. Thinking back he had successfully been using his broken arm before this. How was that possible?

'This is a lesson of inner strength.' Ryuu's voice echoed. 'Just because it is a lesson for now does not mean you have not encountered it before. Now, finish him!'

The last sentence shot through his mind causing the turtle to cringe. The four armed creature lay sprawled on the ground much like Mikey had been earlier. Eventually he walked up to it and focused his strength until he was able to push it up into a sitting position before picking it up by its back. Soon he was standing under the monster while holding it up like the god Atlas would hold the earth.

Carrying the beast he stopped just at the edge and looked down. Was this training worth killing for?

The light faded at that moment and he found himself in the dark. However the darkness itself seemed to be moving as Master Ryuu's eyes opened, cascading a curtain of crimson light upon him. "Were they really your brothers?"

"What?" Mikey asked uncertainly.

"Are you related? You were all the same species but did any of your brothers share the same birth parents? Even if you did, do they treat you like a brother?"

The turtle looked away from the enormous dragon as he thought about it. "Sure they do! Sometimes...Maybe. I dunno. I'm pretty sure everyone's brothers treat each other like they do me."

"With disrespect? Then why do they not treat each other like they treat you?"

Mikey didn't want to admit it but he did have a point. All his rare hard work was always ignored.

"Why not prove otherwise. Don't hold yourself back. Do what you know they cannot and rise above your brothers!"

With Ryuu's words echoing through the shadows Mikey found himself heaving the monster over the edge, darkness in his eyes.

** A/N: Sorry I took so long with the update, I've been playing League of Legends. :D**


	12. Do You Belong?

Do You Belong?

Things hadn't gone according to plan. The turtles had originally thought Stockman would be able to finish his project in maybe a few days with the equipment the Shredder was sure to give him, but so far it's been a week and the man was still working on his own version of the transdimensional device.

After they had successfully discovered Baxter Stockman's new lab Donnie sent in a spy bot to watch his progress. Leo was sitting at a table watching the man work away, clearly bored out of his mind as Raph trained in the dojo in an attempt to get his mind off things. Donnie however couldn't wait and had gone back to work on his own contraption from before. A few days ago he had almost succeeded in blowing up the entire lair. Had Leo not cut the power supply cord once he realized it was overheating they would all have been blown sky high.

"Any progress yet?" April asked as she approached Donnie in his lab.

He was wearing his unusual headgear from before in order to keep the coordinates of the purple matter trail. The turtle shook his head as he remained focused on the device that covered the table. It had finally begun taking the form of a circular platform with four short power cells spaced evenly apart. He had planned to use the power cells in place of the purple matter. If they generated the right kind of power then the entire platform would light up and transport an individual standing within it to and from another dimension. This was all in theory of course, so he wasn't sure if it would work.

"Hey Donnie?" He heard Leo's voice call for him.

"What is it Leo?"

"Come here."

There was something in his brother's tone that made it seem as though he had something important to say, so he took off his headgear of magnifying glasses and purple matter tracers before heading towards him.

Leo was sitting in front of a laptop. "Did he finish it?" Donnie wondered, to which his brother shook his head.

"Look." Leo pointed at the screen.

Raph had heard the tone in Leo's voice and began to walk over as they all observed the screen. "What's going on?" He asked.

Donnie eyed the screen before he realized what the situation was. "Is that…?"

On the screen Stockman was working on a small, portable transdimensional device in the shape of a silver gun.

"It's the gun." Leo commented.

Donnie frowned. "No it's not. Look." He pointed out the unfinished parts. "He's not building a machine to draw another gun to this dimension like he did before, this time he's trying to make another gun himself. And it looks like it's almost ready."

…

Ryuu stood before Michealangelo between the cherry trees. His newest student had much more promise than anyone he's trained before. Although irritably sarcastic and unable to take his training seriously at first it had become evident that his efforts to transform this creature into an ideal warrior have come to prove most effective.

The turtle had passed the beginners training with flying colors and had already mastered some of Ryuu's personal battle formations and attacks. With the anger he had instilled in the young ones heart he had made him able to master control over the chi around him. Currently he had the turtle meditating near a massive waterfall that's waters were mysteriously stained red. Moments before he had shown him the Aquatic Serpent, a style which normally took his usual students at least a year to master. This one however had mastered it in only a few tries after a mere demonstration.

This was a truly gifted student indeed. One in which he did not wish to loose. Over time Ryuu had obtained various enemies. He needed an army of such warriors to keep them at bay. It was true that Ryuu alone would be able to defeat a great many of them and alone he could easily win a one on one battle, but they tended to group together now and the dragon had to admit that he was no match for such a gathering of opponents. This turtle had to stay.

…

He was beating himself up. How could he look down on his brothers like that? Sure he got angry with them and maybe they didn't treat him right but he never really brought it up with them.

Mikey lost his focus and opened his eyes.

"What is it?" Ryuu inquired.

Turning towards the red waters beside him he gazed at his reflection. Something seemed different about how he looked. "Nothing."

"You lost your concentration. Tell me, or I will force the information out of you." The yokai threatened, not openly admitting he was able to read the ninja's thoughts.

"It's just… I was thinking about my brothers again."

The dragon's eyes darkened. He had done his best to get rid of his feelings for his family. However his loyalty seemed remarkably strong. "And?"

"When I see them again I just don't know how I'm going to deal with it."

Ryuu walked up beside the turtle. "Do you really want to see them again?"

Mikey was surprised at this question. It hadn't occurred to him that he didn't have to go home. He contemplated on this for a bit before turning back to the yokai. "I don't know. Maybe once I get my feelings straight, but not right now."

Ryuu didn't seem very happy about his response. "How long do you think you've been here?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I can't tell time out here. There's no sun or moon, or clocks for that matter." Mikey smiled up at the sky. "But then again I grew up in the sewers. Me and my brothers weren't allowed to go topside until recently so I'm used to not seeing the sun and moon."

"Be warned then. Time passes differently between this dimension and others. In order to return home you must pass a final test before I will agree to send you home, and when I do I cannot be certain how much time has passed in your world."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean if you do manage to complete this training and still want to go home then when you arrive a whole century may have passed in your world, or merely a second. I cannot say because I do not hold power over the flow of time."

Mikey stood in shock. "Wait! That's not right! I'm doing all of this just to return home and you're telling me I may go back and my brothers could have grown old and died already? That's not fair!"

"Did you really want to go home in the first place?" Ryuu questioned. "Meditate on it before you direct your anger at me."

"But I-"

"Meditate!" He interrupted the turtle.

In reply to the stern voice Mikey plopped back onto the ground and crossed his legs to continue his meditation. However he just didn't seem to be able to maintain focus as so many questions plagued his thoughts.

'Will they remember me if I go back?'

'What if only a second had passed by the time I get back? They won't believe this all happened!'

'What if a hundred years has passed?'

His brow furrowed as he thought about all of this. His meditation wasn't going so well. In frustration he opened his eyes prepared to face Ryuu when he found himself on a couch in front of the television. Once again Mikey found himself back in the lair. This time he stood up and looked around. This couldn't be real. It was another trick, he knew it.

"Hello?" He called, expecting his fake brothers to appear. Instead Master Splinter approached him. "Master Splinter?"

"Hey Sensei?" April's voice was then heard. "Are you sure I shouldn't have gone with? I mean I could have helped a little."

"I appreciate your worry." Splinter smiled gratefully. "However they are after a device that can control the flow of time and space. I do not think you are ready to handle such a mission."

They were talking as though the turtle wasn't standing right there, but he didn't mind that. What they were discussing had him more concerned. Quickly he sprinted out of the lair. Even if this was an illusion he had to see what was going on. Quickly he made his way to the warehouse at the end of the city. It was dark out but surrounded by the Foot none the less.

Keeping to the shadows he peeped around a corner and spotted his brothers sneaking inside. It appeared that this was just before the gun exploded. Once he figured that much out he raced along the ledges until he found his little hiding spot only to discover his dropped yo-yo.

"Oh man!" He grunted and leapt down to the warehouse where he knew his other self had gone. The sounds of battle reached him as he made it to the door to find the Foot ninjas getting their butts kicked. He watched himself dish out a serving of pain to each of them and grinned.

"I'm so awesome." Mikey remarked about himself when suddenly the Foot Ninja's began to retreat. As they disappeared his alternate self stood surprised. "Uh…Hah! That's right you better run! You bunch of cowards!" He shouted after a moment and proudly walked into the next section of the warehouse. Something purple was glowing near the front doorway.

Mikey quickly dashed out to stop himself. "Hey! Leave it alone and get out of here!" He waved his arms frantically in front of the other Mikey only to discover that he was pretty much invisible.

"Hey! What's that?" The other turtle wandered up to it. The purple light was pulsating violently now with a slight humming noise emitting from the silver gun. "Oh man! Is this that gunamabobber?" He picked it up and scratched his head. "I wonder why it's-"

A bright purple light erupted from it, engulfing Mikey and the warehouse instantly. However this time instead of disappearing along with it Mikey found himself still standing there where the warehouse once stood. The Foot ninjas had already dispersed and he spotted his three brothers standing together outside.

"What happened to it?" Raff asked.

Donnie stepped forth with a finger on his chin. "If my research was correct then after the matter in the power core was exposed to the oxygen in the air it reacted and opened a portal through time and space. But since the gun was broken and no destination was set it probably projected the warehouse to some unknown dimension."

Mikey ran up to them. "Hey guys! Can you see me?" He asked.

"So the gun is gone?" Leo asked, clearly not having heard him.

"Yep."

"Good riddance." Raff huffed before walking away. "Hey Mikey! Great guard job! We totally didn't get surrounded or anything."

Mikey pouted at that. "Hey! I tried to save your shells! I even got taken to another dimension and almost killed while trying to help you guys!"

"Mikey! Cut it out!" Donnie called. "We need to get back now!"

Silence.

Michealangelo stood in front of them and waved his hands frantically before they went right through his brother's head. He was a phantom.

"I bet he went to go goof off." Raph suggested before wandering towards the hidden shell raiser. "Maybe he won't come back and we won't have to deal with his screw ups anymore."

"Maybe. Or maybe he just can't handle guard duty either." Donnie replied.

Leo shrugged. "He's really not that good at anything. I have a hard time finding jobs for him when we go on missions. It'd be a lot easier if it was just the three of us."

"If it was just the three of us then how would we get split up then?" Donnie asked as he entered the vehicle.

"Simple." His brother replied. "We'd each go solo. Or do you prefer to baby sit Mikey all the time?"

"Oh heck no. I can do much better without him."

"Exactly." Raph nodded as he sat himself at his station. "Which is why we should leave before the little screw up shows up. He can walk home after this."

The other two nodded in agreement as Mikey followed inside the shell raiser listening to their conversation.

"Hey! If we're lucky maybe he won't come home at all." Leo joked and all three laughed.

Mikey was shaking now. He had imagined his brothers were worried over him disappearing but if this was really what happened after he vanished then he didn't want to go home at all!

His eyes opened and he found himself back in the Dark Realm beside the red waterfall. Ryuu was grinning triumphantly.


	13. Let's Bring Him Home

Let's Bring Him Home

"It's an exact replica." Donnie remarked as the three eyeballed the gun. The silver weapon had the same mysterious purple matter rolling around inside the bulb at the nozzle like before. "How is this possible?"

They were all currently standing in a vault. Just moments ago Leo gave the order to sneak into the lab and steal the gun.

"Do you think it works?" Raph wondered as he went to poke at it, only to be stopped by Donnie.

"We have to be careful with it since we don't know if it works or not."

"Fine." The red banded turtle backed off as Leo stepped up.

"What should we do?" Their leader asked. "We don't know if it works since they didn't test it, and if we steal it only to find that it doesn't work then not only with this all be for nothing but then the Shredder will know what we're up to."

"Hey! We don't have a choice! Mikey's been gone way too long for us to wait any longer!" Raph pointed out. "I say we take it and test it ourselves, and if it doesn't work we just take the next one they dish out."

Donnie nodded. "I agree, we don't know where Mikey was taken so we need to get him back as soon as possible. Besides, I can test it out myself and see if I can fix it if it doesn't work."

"Fine." Leo agreed. "But let's hurry."

Just like before Donnie was chosen to take the weapon. He delicately reached for the silver handle and ever so slowly lifted it up from its pedestal.

Immediately the doors slammed shut and flashing red lights filled the room as a screeching alarm went off. Instinctively all three clapped their hands to their heads causing Donnie to drop the gun. Once he realized what he had done the turtle quickly picked it back up to inspect it.

"This way!" Raph shouted as he threw his sai up and knocked a tile inwards on the ceiling, revealing an escape route. "You'd think these guys would learn to set up better traps!" He grinned as he jumped up into it and crawled away.

The other two followed with Donnie last. He cradled the gun against himself gently, grateful that it hadn't gone off when he dropped it. Ahead of him his brothers had found an exit through a vent and were climbing out, but just as it was his turn to exit he heard Leo call back.

"Donnie! Go back!"

"What?" He asked just in time to spot the dozens of Foot ninja's waiting outside. Apparently leaving the ventilation shaft above the room was part of their plan. He began to back away as his brothers began to fight. They seemed to make short work of their enemy, but just as they were about to give Donnie the O.K. more appeared. It seemed like this was going to be one of those tough nights.

Donnie couldn't just sit there and watch so he placed the gun down and flew out, staff at the ready as he landed in the center of the mayhem. Knocking them out one by one was easy enough, it was taking care of the new ones that was the problem.

"We gotta get out of here!" Leo shouted.

Raph rebelled, "Oh heck no! Come on we can take them!"

"And risk losing the gun? We need to think about Mikey first! Now come on Raph!"

The red banded turtle sighed heavily before following his brother out. Donnie quickly retrieved the gun from where he put it and made his escape as well, but it wasn't as simple as that. The Foot seemed to swarm the roof tops as they followed their prey. Every time they closed the gap it was up to Raph or Leo to keep them away from Donnie and the gun.

"There!" Leo pointed to a bridge with rushing water below it. "We need to use that to our advantage!"

"But we don't know if the gun is water proof!" Donnie argued, but was silenced as Raph barely knocked a Foot ninja away from his face.

"We don't have a choice!"

Eventually he agreed and the trio made a dive for it, praying Fish Face wasn't laying in wait. They were in luck and as turtles do they swam easily under the water, quickly losing their enemy.

A ways downstream they climbed out and made for the nearest manhole. It was a relief when they made it back to the lair. As each of them sat down exhausted Leo thought about the situation. "How did they know we were coming?"

Donnie caught his breath and examined the gun. "Maybe they spotted my spy bot, but pretended not to notice to draw us out?"

"That or someone else is after the gun." Raph replied.

"But who?"

"Think about it." Raph explained. "While the guy was torturing me he wouldn't shut up about how angry he was with Shredder for taking the gun away from him. He wanted it for himself. So of course he probably planned on using it after building it, and Shredder knew so he took the new one away from the man and locked it up."

"Stockman."

"Do you think you can work it?" Leo asked Donnie.

"It depends on if it still works." The purple banded turtle turned the gun around. He spotted something and ran to his lab to get a magnifying glass to get a closer look. "Bad news guys." He finally announced after double checking. "There's a crack on it. One good bump and this thing will explode like the one in the warehouse."

"Are you serious!" Raph shouted. "We went through all that trouble for nothing?"

"Not quite." He looked up at his brothers. "I can still use it. The crack isn't that bad so it won't go off suddenly. But I wouldn't use it more than once, which means we got one shot at bringing Mikey home.

Splinter approached. "Then do it. We must bring Michelangelo home."

April stood beside the rat and nodded. "Whatever it takes."

As they all watched Donnie he grew more serious. "Alright. Just give me some time to match the purple matter trail coordinates with the gun so I can set the destination."

With that he began a flurry of motions with his tools and gadgets, mixing and matching parts from his platform, helmet, and the gun. In total it took about an hour. By the time he was finished he had to look over everything three times before he thought it was ready for use. But just as he got ready to use it he quadruple checked, just to make sure.

"Is it ready yet?" April asked after noticing the turtle repeat his routine.

"I think so." He replied cautiously before lifting it up. "I just replaced a few parts from the inside, as well as input Mikey's genetic information so it'll draw him home."

"Oh. Well that explains why it looks the same." She smiled. "Since it was you who did it, I'm sure it'll work."

Donnie blushed slightly before walking into the center of the dojo, the most open place he could find. Leo, Raph, April and Splinter stood behind him and watched as he set the destination.

"Here goes nothing." He worried before aiming. He put a finger on the trigger then hesitated. After a minute of waiting Raph sighed loudly.

"Just do it already!" He shouted at Donnie, startling him into pulling the trigger.

There was an immensely bright light as the beam shot forward. The whole dojo seemed to disappear into it as they were all blinded by the brilliance. Donnie did he best to keep his grip on the gun as it shook violently in his hands. The force of the blast felt like it was pushing him backwards. He had to dig his feet into the ground and lean against the force to prevent himself from falling backwards. Then it began to dim.

It took a few minutes for the group to regain their sight. The first thing Donnie noticed was that the gun was suddenly gone. Then the blinding white color faded away and the dojo reappeared with a clearly surprised and battered Mikey standing in the center.


	14. Something Changed

Something Changed

Ryuu noticed it instantly. His hold on the turtles mind suddenly disappeared. In a flash he made his way to the training grounds where his student had last been only to find him gone. This enraged the dragon to no end. No one was allowed to leave the Dark Realm unless he gave them permission. This is an outrage!

The dragon master growled deeply. Bolts of shadowed lightening struck the ground around him, shattering it. It was just a moment, but once he had calmed himself the entire training ground was in a smoking ruin. He didn't care, the other yokai would clean it up. He had a turtle to hunt down.

…

Something was different this time. The memories, the voices, all the things he had used to channel chi seemed to vanish. Before he had no control over when his brothers' voices overtook his subconscious but now it was silent and all he could hear was himself. But there was more than just that. Now he was once again in the lair, this time in the dojo where he and his brothers once trained. For some reason he felt that this was different than before.

He glanced around the dojo, spotting his father and brothers as well as April standing at the far end rubbing their eyes. Donnie was standing in front of the whole group with his hands held out like he had been holding something recently aimed at him.

Leo looked up, blinking rapidly to clear his vision of the phantom blobs that plagued his vision due to the bright light. They began to vanish slowly and soon he could make out the form of his youngest brother. "Mikey?"

Michelangelo stepped back, expecting something strange to happen like before.

"It is Mikey!" April announced.

Her voice seemed to verify his existence resulting in his three brothers approaching him with smiles on their faces. Was this another test?

"Where am I?" Mikey asked cautiously before any of them could hug him. They paused just a few feet away before Donnie explained.

"You're home!" He exclaimed. "You've been gone for almost two weeks!"

"Only two weeks?" Mikey questioned. He felt like it had been a year. But then again Master Ryuu had told him time passed differently between the dimensions.

"We were so worried about you." Leo answered. "Donnie here did his best to bring you back. Luckily Stockman was able to build another gun so he could modify it to bring you home from where ever you were."

"Gun?" Mikey asked, remembering he had left it in the warehouse in the Dark Realm.

"Michelangelo seems to be having some trouble understanding the situation." Splinter called from behind them. "I suggest we not force too much information on him and allow him to rest. He will tell us what he has been through when he is ready."

"Oh come on this is Mikey. Nothing phases him." Raph joked while sticking his thumb at his brother.

Mikey was still confused. He wanted to believe this was another trick, but it felt different from before. His brothers weren't attacking him randomly and had agreed to keep their distance. He didn't mind that and began walking off to collect his thoughts.

"Where's he going" April asked when she noticed him leaving.

Splinter put a hand on her shoulder. "As I said, we do not know what he has been through. For the moment we should wait and let him tell us in his own time."

"Seriously?" Raph folded his arms and pouted. "I got tortured for him! I say we follow him."

"Calm down Raph." Leo interrupted his tantrum. "We can consult with him later. For now we should do as Splinter says and give him space. He's acting weird as it is."

"You mean weirder than usual?" Raph grunted.

April then noticed Donnie with a hand on his chin, obviously deep in thought. "What is it?" She asked.

"Well, it's just…The gun disappeared when we drew Mikey here." He explained.

"Maybe the gun trades places with things?" Leo suggested.

Donnie shook his head. "No, otherwise something else would have been there in place of the missing warehouse. Plus when we used the gun its beam was a bright white light, not a purple flash like we saw before."

"So?"

"I don't know." The turtle sighed. "I just can't help but feel it all means something."

…

"Master Ryuu?" Mikey called. He had gone out of the lair and was wandering down the sewer lines, wondering if this was another test. However no booming voice pierced his thoughts. He somehow felt lonely.

Giving up after a few hours he headed back towards the lair. April had just finished a short training session and smiled at the turtle as he entered.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" She asked worried.

Mikey smiled at her. "Never better!" And plopped down beside her on the couch. She eyed him for a moment, confused at his reply.

"What?" He asked, noticing her eyes on him.

She shrugged. "Nothing. It's just that earlier you seemed kind of out of it."

"Yeah! Out of this world!" Mike explained. "I was in a weird dimension filled with things called yokai. The sky was purple, the clouds were black, and the whole place smelled worse than here in the sewers!"

"So, you really were in another dimension?"

Mikey grinned and nodded. "Yep!"

"So what happened to you?"

"Nothing." He leaned back and relaxed. "I'll tell you one thing though, I don't think I'll be eating another peach for as long as I live."

…

After a day Michelangelo seemed to be returning to normal. According to April he had admitted to traveling to another world, but didn't say anything regarding what happened to him there.

"He was probably goofing off the whole time." Raph growled. "And here we thought he was in trouble."

"Maybe he was?" Donnie suggested.

At that moment Mikey shot out above their heads on his skateboard. "Booyakasha!" He shouted as he landed in front of them. "And the crowd goes wild!"

"Yeah," Raph replied sarcastically. "He looks so troubled over it."

"That is quite enough Michelangelo." Splinter scolded the turtle. Mikey jumped off his skateboard and sat beside Donnie with a massive grin on his face.

"Are you certain you are ready to go back to training?" Splinter inquired, to which he was replied with an enthusiastic nod. "Very well then."

Training went the same as usual. Warming up, weapons practice, and then sparring. Mikey was pitted against Donnie, and Leo was pitted against Raph.

"Hajime!" Splinter called.

Donnie twirled his staff around quickly. Mikey watched it closely, knowing full well he could easily knock it out of his brothers' hands. However up to this point he found no reason to show off his new skills. If he did he knew he would be confronted with a ton of questions. Questions he just didn't want to answer.

Mikey ran at his brother, nun-chucks spinning, and dodged every one of his brothers' attacks. He was quick on his feet and able to sense Donnie's movements. He was in no danger here. From what he could tell his brothers were much weaker than the training dummies he was forced to fight in the Dark Realm.

Donnie was caught off guard by Mikey's speed. He wasn't this fast before. There was something strange about this.

Donnie then turned and made another attempt to hit his brother, only for his staff to be caught on the chain of one of Mikeys nun-chucks. Mikey grinned and twisted his whole body until Donnie lost his grip on the staff and watched it go flying across the floor. Mikey stood straight and grinned at his brother.

"Ha ha!" He laughed at Donnie. "Maybe you should try the nun-chucks some time?"

Donnie just frowned and went to sit on the side lines to watch the rest of the match as Leo was beaten by Raph. Now it was Mikey versus Raphael.

"You ready for this?" Raph asked. "Because I'm not going to take it easy on you after your little vacation. I owe you a ton of pain for all the things I went through trying to bring you home."

"Bring it!" Mikey retorted.

Raph shot forward, sai at the ready. Just as he was about to lay a blow to Mikey's head his brother dropped his own weapons and disappeared.

"What?" He called looking around for Mikey. Then he was knocked on the head. He fell to his knees and looked up to find Michelangelo standing over him, fist out and smiling.

Enraged by this Raph quickly scrambled back to his feet and desperately attempted to get his brother back, but every strike he made was either deflected by Mikey's palm, or dodged. Mikey on the other hand was having fun playing with his brother. Raph always took pride in winning his sparring matches. Well this time he wasn't going to win.

Mikey did a double take and spun around out of his brothers' line of fire and reappeared behind him. With his hand flattened he side struck his brother in the neck, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Yame!" Splinter announced the end of the match.

Mikey turned to see Leo and Donnie staring at him in awe. Splinter walked onto the mat and checked Raphael's injuries before confronting the orange turtle.

"You seem to have vastly improved in your fighting skills Michelangelo."

"I'll say!" Leo stood. "It's about time Raph got beaten, but I never would have thought it'd be by Mikey."

"Why?" Mikey suddenly retorted. "Because you think I'm weak?"

Donnie jumped up then. "What? No! He didn't say that."

"You think the same thing don't you?" Mikey spat at Donnie. "Don't think I don't know that. I'm not as stupid as you all think I am."

"Michelangelo!" Splinter cut the argument off. "What has gotten into you?"

Mikey realized just how strange he had begun to act. He promised himself he wouldn't do that and bowed his head. "I'm sorry sensei."

Splinter began stroking his beard. "Your skills have greatly improved, far beyond that of your brothers. However I must ask why you decided to throw your weapons away when fighting Raphael?"

The orange banded turtle straitened. "Because it makes more sense to practice without weapons than with them. I mean, if you rely on your weapon during a battle then you're left weaker than before if you're disarmed. But if you're stronger when fighting without one then not only will you be more successful in battle but you will also have the element of surprise on your enemy since they wouldn't expect it."

The rat thought about this for a moment. "Very true Michelangelo. Though I would like to know where you learned that, considering throughout all the years I have trained you and your brothers I have always taught you to consider your weapons as an extension of yourself, not as a hindrance."

Mikey shrugged. "I just thought it up."

"The truth please." Splinter continued. "Because as I watched you spar I also took note of the fact that although you did somehow become more skilled in combat, you have not been using the techniques I have taught you."

The turtle froze. For some reason he felt like it was wrong to admit to having another master besides Splinter. Originally while he was in the Dark Realm he believed he would hate them all when he returned, but so long as he pretended none of it happened it didn't hurt as much.

Mikey sighed finally and turned away from the rat. "I'm sorry sensei, but I'd rather not talk about it right now." With that he shoved his way between Donnie and Leo before heading out to the surface. He made his way to a construction site and wandered through it as his mind raced. Anger began boiling up inside, anger he thought had been left in the Dark Realm. Soon he couldn't take it anymore and turned to punch a wall of concrete, shattering it instantly.

**A/N: Thank you everyone who's been reading so far. I'm trying to make sure no more than 3 days goes between updates. Classes have started however so I'll try not to fall behind. :D**


	15. Confrontation

Confrontation

"I don't like it." Leo consulted his brothers after Raph dragged himself off the ground. "He's acting really weird."

"I'll say." Raph rubbed the back of his neck. "That match was something else. It was like I wasn't fighting Mikey at all. It was more like I was fighting someone else completely."

Donnie thought about it. "But he was acting normal just before. I wonder if something happened that he's not telling us about?"

"Like what?" Leo asked.

"I don't know. Knowing Mikey he's not the type of person who can handle bad situations. We're usually around to get him out of them. But what if something bad did happen and he just doesn't want us to know about it?"

"What are you talking about Donnie?" Raph replied. "Mikey is a goof ball, a knucklehead. He's just not the type of guy to take things seriously."

"Because nothing bad has ever really happened to him before, at least not beyond the occasional battle. He's never really had a reason to take things seriously while we're around, even when we wanted him to."

Leo began to worry. "So what are you saying?"

Donnie's eyes focused on the mat below him. "I don't know, but I don't think we should leave him alone for the time being. We've never been separated for too long before. But now Mikey was gone for almost two weeks. I'm worried it may have caused him to drift away a little bit. Maybe do things on his own instead of consult with us or Sensei?"

Splinter nodded in agreement. "I agree. Individuality is a good thing, but not if it can become self destructive. As I watched Michelangelo fight today I saw something in him far different from his usual self. I fear he may be going through a trial of finding his way."

"Finding his way?" Leo repeated. "What does that mean?"

The rat began to walk away. "It means he is not certain of himself anymore. Before, your brother did not question his actions and often did not think beforehand, but now I see much thought in his eyes. I believe he has begun to question who he is and what he is worth."

"But he's our brother!" Raph exclaimed. "How hard can it be to figure that out?"

"It is not a bad thing." Splinter answered. "Everyone goes through a period in their lives where they question what the meaning of their life is. You're brother just happens to be going through it now. However I worry where his thoughts may lead him. Keep an eye on him, and make sure he stays out of trouble in the meantime."

"Yes sensei." Leo bowed and the group dispersed to find their youngest sibling.

…

He was sitting under a bridge by the river. It seemed so much calmer here than back home for some reason.

"I'm not weak." Mikey muttered to himself as he skipped a flat stone across the waters. "And I'm not stupid."

The water rippled, but not where the stone had been. It approached him from the center slowly. He watched it cautiously before catching his own reflection, along with someone behind him. Just as the ripples hit the shore he leapt backwards and landed behind Dog Pound.

Without a word he kicked the over grown dog into the water and dashed away. There was no way he could beat Dog Pound all on his own.

Turning a corner he looked back to spot his pursuers, noting that Fish Face had emerged from the river and had joined Dog Pound. As quickly as he could the turtle lunged into an alleyway and climbed up to the roofs. From there he hid in the shadows and watched as the two stopped dead in their tracks, uncertain of where he had gone. Satisfied with this he turned to leave only to find himself surrounded by dozens of Foot Ninja's. This he could handle.

He eyed his opponents before crouching down and bracing himself. One by one they chose their formation and began their attacks. At first it was easy enough to dodge and counter them, but eventually they came in twos, then in threes. He was getting overwhelmed and with all the noise he was making Dog Pound and Fish Face were sure to have heard down below.

A blow to his head nearly knocked him out. As the white flashes flooded his vision he remembered his training in the dark. The turtle fell forward, supposedly unconscious, only to catch himself at the last minute with one hand extended to the floor. After a brief pause he disappeared. The ninja's looked frantically around as Dog Pound and Fish Face made it to the roof top in time for the turtle to reappear, eyes still closed, and knock five of them out in a flash.

It seemed as soon as he appeared, he disappeared. "What is going on!?" Dog Pound shouted, clearly irritated. "Get him!"

Once again Mikey appeared out of thin air and this time spun on one foot to knock another eight off the roof before disappearing again. This continued at random intervals. Each sighting of Mikey resulted in more of the ninja's being defeated. Soon it just began happening so rapidly they couldn't keep track of his movements at all. His speed was unmatched by any of them. However the turtle began to sense that his opponents were beginning to dwindle so once the last ones were knocked out he opened his eyes to find not only all the Foot ninja's knocked out, but also Dog Pound and Fish Face as well. This caught him by surprise. He had never imagined himself strong enough to take out Dog Pound on his own, let alone a whole flock of Foot ninjas along with Fish Face!

A goofy grin spread across the turtles face as he realized just what he had accomplished. Soon he was pumping his fists in the air and walking back and forth cheering.

"Who's the greatest? I'm the greatest! Who's the best? I'm the best!" He repeated until he spotted his brothers on the roof, once again in awe at their little brothers capabilities.

Mikey instantly dropped his hands and twiddled his fingers anxiously. "I uh…..I saw nothing…"

"Really?" Leo approached him sternly. "Because we saw everything!"

Mikey stepped away from his brothers. "Oh? Cool. Okay then…Bye!" He tried to run but found Raph blocking his way, arms crossed.

"Okay Mikey, it's about time you start explaining things." The red banded turtle declared. "You've been acting weirder than usual, and now you're like some sort of hyped up super ninja."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked with a smile. "I was just out for a stroll and they attacked me. I defended myself. I didn't realize you guys would have a problem with that."

"Mikey, just tell us who taught you how to fight like that?" Donnie asked.

A small prickle of irritation began to creep up from Donnie's words. "Like what? Good? Are you saying I shouldn't be able to fight like that?"

"Exactly!" Leo shouted. "You're not you Mikey! You may be trying to pretend everything is okay, but it's not. You've barely been back for two days and your behavior is really strange."

"What?!" Mikey bellowed, catching all of his brothers off guard. "You really think I'm weak don't you? That all I'm good for is a decoy? That I can't make good plans at all, and that I'm not even worth listening to most of the time right?"

"We didn't say that!" Donnie interrupted, "We would never-"

"Shut up Don!" Mikey shouted. "I'm tired of listening to you guys making fun of me all the time! You call yourselves my brothers but in reality you think I'm just annoying, don't you? Well guess what? Look around you. I did that! I'm not weak! I'm not stupid! And I refuse to play decoy anymore!"

The three stood in shock at the anger in their brother's voice. Was this really their innocent, fun loving little brother? Because right now he seemed practically venomous.

"Mikey…"Leo began uncertainly. "We don't think of you like that. It's just-"

"Just what?" Mikey interrupted. "Just that I never said anything before? Well guess what? Maybe sometimes I hide my problems with smiles, assuming my brothers would know when something was wrong? Instead, none of you like being teamed up with me, none of you like going with my ideas, and none of you have faith in me!"

This time Raph tried to say something, but was stopped as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Don't even say it!" The youngest turtle seethed before turning his back on them and walking away. However Donnie wasn't ready to give up and ran to stop him, but as soon as he put his hand on Mikey's shoulder he was socked in the stomach and sent flying across the roof and right into the wall of the taller adjacent building.

Mikey stood dazed at what he had just done while Leo and Raph ran to help Donnie. After a moment he took a step back then ran as fast as he could.

**A/N: Thank you everyone who's been commenting! I really do appreciate it. :D I didn't quite expect such a good response to this story since I'm new here so it really means a lot to me!**


	16. Hate

Hate

Mikey ran as fast as he could, skillfully leaping across massive gaps as he made his way further and further away from his brothers. Deep down inside he felt horrible for hurting Donnie, but right now all he was really feeling was anger.

Leo had admitted it out loud. He didn't believe Mikey was able to fight. True, he couldn't believe it himself at first, however he did manage to take out both Dog Pound and Fish Face. Before now he couldn't even dream of doing that…

He slowed his pace and thought it over. Everything his brothers said was based on how he acted before he was trained by Master Ryuu. When he thought about it they were right. He never put much effort into his training to fight better than his brothers, and some of his ideas were a bit strange from time to time and occasionally when he didn't listen to his brothers and tried his own plans they didn't go so well. True, he was able to save them once before all on his own but that was just once.

Master Ryuu was right. Everything the yokai had said was true. All of his lessons had improved his fighting style, kept him focused and made him stronger. All the while he was plagued with false visions of his brothers hurting him, distrusting him and overall behaving like his enemies. Maybe Ryuu was right about that too? All he did was defend himself and his brothers got suspicious and questioned him like he was a criminal, and now that he finally told them how he felt he couldn't just go back could he?  
The thought of them rejecting him caused the bubble of hatred to grow. He closed his eyes and concentrated on it, then focused the chi around him into his body. The flow of energy woke him up immediately. Ever since he came back he was trying to behave like everything was fine but it wasn't. Now that he has finally proven to be a strong fighter his supposed brothers rejected him and told him it wasn't right.

"I hate them…." Mikey mumbled at first, fists clenched and eyes closed. "I hate them. I hate them!" He finally shouted.

Now Mikey knew why he didn't want to answer their questions. It was because he knew they would find something wrong with it and tell him he had to be weak, like it was his role. But he was tired of being the weakest link. He wouldn't be forced into that position. And if he had to, he would make them see it his way.

He glared back at the direction his brothers were and slightly wondered if he would be able to take on Master Splinter now?

…

"What happened?" An evil voice growled from the darkness as the Foot ninja's dropped off the unconscious pair in front of him.

"They were defeated by the orange ninja." One of them explained.

A shadow moved forward and out from the darkness emerged the Shredder, eyes glaring. "Impossible. Only Splinter could be able to defeat them so easily."

Dog Pound began to open his eyes. He blinked furiously for a moment before sitting up and spotting his master.

"Shredder!" He instantly stood and backed away. "I can explain."

"You better!"

The canine hesitated before answering. "It was the orange one. Michelangelo. Something was….Different about him."

The Shredder tilted his head in curiosity. "Different how?"

"He was faster….And stronger! I've never seen anything like that, not even from you!" When he realized what he had said it was too late and Shredder appeared just an inch away with his hand on the mutant's neck. "Are you insulting me?!"

"Ugh…..N….No!" He gulped hard before being released. "I mean…..He was the one that disappeared when the first gun exploded. Maybe it has something to do with whatever dimension he was sent to?"

The Shredder thought it over as Karai appeared from the shadows. "The orange one is an imbecile. The fact that you were defeated by him proves that you are worse and not fit to work for my father!"

"Silence Karai." Shredder ordered.

"Um…" A Foot ninja stepped forward. "I have information regarding this matter."

"Then speak!"

The ninja winced at the volume of his masters words, but maintained his stature before continuing. "Sir, I was there. Truly the orange turtle was powerful, but he does not seem to be loyal to his brothers. I saw them arguing. He was yelling at them, and then he struck one of them… The purple one…I think there is a strain in the turtles relationship, particularly the orange one's."

Fish Face had become conscious at this point and grunted. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing sushi." Dog Pound teased.

"Karai!"Shredder called his daughters attention. She stepped forward eagerly.

"Yes father?"

"I want you to confirm this." The man declared. "If there is a weakness in their bond then I will use it against them. Turn him against his brothers if he has not already."

"You want to recruit Michelangelo?" She asked in wonder.

"No. Just to turn him against his brothers. It will cause enough turmoil amongst them for me take advantage of it. And as a bonus it will surely cause strain on Splinter's heart to see his dear mutants fighting amongst themselves. This will surely buy us enough time for Stockman to finish another gun. Once we have that the turtles will be too distracted to even be a bother to me."

"Yes father." Karai bowed honorably before leaving.

…

There was a new crack on Donnie's shell. Raph and Leo couldn't believe their little brother was this strong, or that he was willing to do this to his own brother!

"What the heck is going on with Mikey?" Raph wondered as they carried Donnie between themselves. "He's acting so crazy. He's never had a problem before."

"I think it has something to do with him being sent to another dimension." Leo explained. "Ever since he came back a few days ago I noticed something was a bit strange about him. Something definitely happened to make him think like that. The real Mikey isn't like that at all."

"So are you saying that it wasn't Mikey we brought back?"

"No, Donnie was the one who did the science but I know he knew what he was doing. It's Mikey alright, just….Something is wrong with him."

"So what are we gonna do?" Raph asked as they finally made it to the shell raiser.

Leo hauled the unconscious Donnie into the back and laid him down gently. "I don't know, but for now we need to focus on Donnie."

…

Mikey watched them drive away. He had snuck back after making his decision. They didn't hesitate to leave. They feared him now. He was sure of it. They didn't want to hear about his problems because their own were so much more important. Well he was tired of it.

The turtle walked to the edge of the roof and watched as they disappeared into the shadows heading for the entrance that led home. He knew they had rejected him at that point. He was stronger than them now, and was able to express his feelings more clearly. These were things he knew they didn't like.

He grinned darkly at the thought of kicking all of their butts at once right in front of Splinter. What would Splinter do? Would he stop him too? Most likely. But then he would get to see if he was stronger than his own Sensei now. If he was then what use would Splinter be anymore? Master Ryuu had taught him everything up to this point and hadn't even finished his training. Imagine what he could do if he went back and finished it?

A voice in the back of his head caught his attention. At first he thought it was Ryuu calling out to him, but then he realized he was wrong. This was different. It was his former self crying out, trying to be heard. He ignored it and headed back after noticing that the mess he had made earlier was cleaned up, probably by some Foot ninja backups.

He spent the rest of the night meditating under a bridge. As the sun began to rise a shadow cast itself upon his frame.

"What do you want?" Michelangelo asked without even opening an eye.

The female grinned. "Just to talk."

Slightly irritated the turtle opened his eyes and gazed back at Karai.

**a/n: Sorry I was late with the update! I'll try and go a bit faster! **


	17. Apologies

Apologies

His head ached and his stomach hurt. As the turtle sat up he felt a wave of nausea wash over him. For a moment Donatello sat perfectly still to ease his angry stomach.

"You okay?" Leo asked worriedly.

Donnie took a deep breath before sitting straight up and rubbing a hand across his belly. He had a bandage wrapped around himself. Curious, he began to tug it off thinking there wasn't any reason to have such a thing on his shell, but Raph's hand stopped him and he glanced up into his eyes.

"What happened?" Donnie finally managed to ask.

Raph's worried expression turned into a frown. "Mikey happened."

A whirl of memories brought him back to reality as he recalled the events that had unfolded on the rooftop. His younger brother's sudden display of skill, anger, and retaliation. That couldn't possibly have happened could it? Mikey wasn't like that at all. Thinking such Donnie shook the dizziness from his head and stood only to wince as a searing pain shot from his belly. Once again intrigued by the bandage he began to tug at it. It was Leo who tried to stop him this time but Donnie shrugged him off as the cloth fell to the floor, revealing a massive crack on his belly straight down to the flesh. Such a scar would never go away.

"Mikey did this?" He heard himself ask, not wanting to believe this was happening.

Leo's brow furrowed in worry as he nodded darkly. "I never knew he was strong enough to deliver such a powerful punch."

"He isn't." Came Master Splinter's voice. The rat walked slowly over to the couch where the three stood. "He was using a technique to empower his striking ability."

"Is that really possible sensei?" Leo asked, both intrigued and worried.

The rat nodded. "It is a powerful technique that only the strongest of warriors are capable of mastering."

"Then how did Mikey learn it?" Raph folded his arms. "And why is he using it against us?"

Donnie's knees suddenly buckled and he tumbled back onto the couch, crying out as the crack on his belly deepened the flesh wound beneath. Leo kneeled down and watched him until Donnie nodded, indicating he was fine.

"I do not think he meant to use it against Donatello. I believe he was trained to use this technique by someone much more powerful than anyone I know." Splinter explained. "And I fear this individual may have also toyed with your brother's mind as well, leaving his thoughts in turmoil."

Raph balled his fists. "So what are we gonna do about it?" He growled through clenched teeth.

Donnie put a hand on his brother's arm to quell his anger before glancing towards Splinter. "Where ever Mikey was, he was trained by someone and had his head messed with. The only thing we can do is find this guy and make him undo whatever he did."

"How are we gonna do that?" Raph asked, calming himself down for Donnie's sake.

The purple banded turtle pulled his hand back and focused on the ground before relaying his plan. "I'm going to finish my platform portal. Then I'm going to use it to go to where ever Mikey was sent and sort things out."

The room became deaf as his plan sank in. Eventually a voice spoke out in protest. "You can't!" April cried out having just entered the room. "You could be killed!"

"Mikey wasn't. So obviously where ever he was sent wasn't that dangerous."

"Do not be fooled my son." Master Splinter interrupted honorably. "Michelangelo has displayed his raw talent long before now. I have seen this and have understood that he had his owns obstacles preventing him from reaching his potential. If there is an individual capable of taking him beyond his abilities to turn him into a powerful warrior, then manipulate his mind and throw it into chaos, how will you know they will not do the same to you?"

Donnie shook his head. "I have to sensei. I have to find out what happened to Mikey."

"We need to do more than that though." Raph included, drawing attention to himself. He was hesitant for a moment before speaking his mind. "We have to apologize."

…

"What do you mean you can't make another one?" The Shredder shouted. His anger gleaming in his dark gaze as he focused his rage on the man before him.

Stockman cringed back, fearing for his life as he explained the technical issues he had encountered. "Well, you see, the materials I used to imitate the purple matter are no longer available. I had to steal it from a facility located in China the first time around and that was all they had."

"Then find more!"

The man turned away and grimaced both in fear and frustration. How hard is it to make this guy understand how limited some supplies were? That purple matter had been nothing more than a side effect of a failed experiment performed by the Chinese government. The details of which had been scrapped long before he could lay his eyes on it. "I can't. It doesn't just appear in thin air." He cautiously replied.

The Shredder stepped forth and raised his arm as though to back hand the man before being interrupted.

"Father, I believe I have good news for you." Karai walked casually past the cowering scientist.

"I thought I told you to deal with the orange turtle?"

She simply grinned. "I have. And he has given me some information of value, particularly to your current conundrum."

The Shredder lowered his arm and focused on his daughter. "Oh really?"

"The turtles possess another teleportation device. With the professor's help we can steal it from them and use it ourselves."

"And you know this for a fact?"

"The orange one has told me so. Apparently they had been building it since the first gun disappeared in an attempt to recover him from the dimension he was sent to."

"And where is he now?"

Karai straightened her back as he folded her arms proudly. "On his way back home."

…

Hate. Hate. Hate. I hate them! Michelangelo thought as he made his way through the sewers. Leo's words echoed through his head, drilling through his thoughts and pounding his pride. What does he know? He's the leader so that makes him know everything? Yeah right!

He turned the corner and entered the lair. The first person to notice him was a worried April who was sitting with her laptop at a table. She seemed relatively surprised and shocked as the turtle entered with ease. He grew up here after all, he shouldn't feel unwelcomed.

"Miky!" April ran half the span of the room before stopping short, suspicion in her eyes. "Are you…You?"

Mikey's anger subsided at the sight of her. He had nothing personal against the human and smiled warmly. "Yeah, I'm fine! How's Donnie?"

She paused and looked behind her towards the turtle's lab. "He's okay, but still hurt. I know you didn't mean to but it's kind of…Well you didn't mean it and no one is holding it against you."

Michelangelo froze at that. They weren't angry? He was sure they would be. Did he do something wrong? Was it a mistake to have told Karai what he knew? He thought back and tried to remember everything they had spoken about that morning.

"So, it seems you and your brothers aren't getting along like the happy family you usually are." Karai had chided, clearly wanting to irritate the turtle.

But Mikey didn't care anymore at that point. He had nodded and blurted everything out to her. "We never were. They think I'm weak. They want me to be weak. I proved to them that I'm not and they said it was wrong, that I need to be weak again!"

He remembered how Karai appeared surprised. Clearly she hadn't expected to hear such malice in his voice. "So what are you going to do?"

At that point Mikey realized he didn't have a plan of action. He wanted to prove he was stronger than any of them. So strong that they couldn't tell him what to do anymore. He toyed with the idea of defeating Master Splinter, then realized how crazy that idea was. Just because his training had made him strong enough to defeat Dog Pound and Fish Face didn't mean he was strong enough to take on Master Splinter. He had to finish his training. "Leave, probably."

"And go where?"

"Why do you care?" The memory of his shout was clear, his rage had suddenly subsided into irritation in that moment. "You're working for the Shredder remember? What's it matter to you?"

Karai looked away for a moment before addressing his question. "It doesn't really. I guess I'm just bored. But since no one else seems to want to listen to you how about you talk to me anyways?"

He wasn't sure about it, but her voice seemed sincere. His brothers sure didn't want to listen, not without questioning him at each word. Her suggestion had dimmed his hatred down enough for him to feel a bit of sorrow. He wished his brothers would listen to him once in a while, but no, instead the daughter of their most hated enemy was more willing to do such a simple thing than they were. What did that make them? As he contemplated this his head began to feel swollen from all the questions he was trying to answer. At some point he just gave up trying to understand the situation and eventually told her everything. All about the Dark Realm, Master Ryuu, the broken gun, and the platform his brother Donnie was getting ready to trash. She seemed particularly interested in that, but he didn't care. Donnie clearly hadn't finished it and after what Mikey did he probably wasn't going to finish it.

"Mikey?" April called, dragging the turtle back to the present. A pang of sorrow still lingered on his heart as he watched the human approach him. "Something wrong?"

The turtle instead walked right passed her, hiding his face as he held back his emotions. Was he wrong? Did he do something bad by confiding in Karai? He wondered all about this as he crossed into the Dojo where he was suddenly cut off by Raph and Leo. The next thing he knew they had him pinned to the floor with his hands on his back. "Ouch!" He cried as Raph sat on his back, now finished with the ties. Mikey quickly calmed himself, trying not to beat himself up over being too indulged in his thoughts to notice them waiting, and laid still. "This is either really really good, or really really bad." He eventually stated.

Raph rolled his eyes, maintaining his position on top of Mikey with his arms crossed. "How the heck can being knocked down and tied up be really really good?"

"Surprise party?" Mikey suggested.

Leo stepped in front of him. "Enough jokes Mikey. It's about time you talk to us. Tell us everything."

"So I take it there's no cake involved?"

Leo sighed, clearly irritated. "No Mikey, there is no cake involved at all. This is an interrogation."

Mikey struggled a little under his brother before calming himself again. "So is that like a party but different? Like with cupcakes instead?"

Raph slapped him on the head. "It looks like he's back to normal. Maybe we were wrong?"

Master Splinter approached the two. "He is your brother and deserves to be treated with respect."

His brothers glanced at each other, not fully willing to give in but eventually doing as they were told. Mikey was untied and stayed on the floor.

"You gonna get up or what?" Raph asked.

Mikey got up to his hands and knees before laying back down on his belly. "Nah. It's actually kind of comfortable down here."

"Enough joking Mikey, we need have a serious talk. Now." Leo kneeled down in front of his brother and looked him in the eye. Mikey quite honestly didn't expect to see such hurt in his expression.

"What's up with you? Cut some onions or what?" Mikey asked.

"Mikey…"Leo began. "I'm sorry."

Mikey tilted his head up at his brother before deciding to sit up. "What?"

"I'm sorry." Leo repeated. "We all are. What you said on the roof is true. We shouldn't have been so surprised."

At his point he had climbed to his feet and was eyeing each of them before speaking. "Where's Donnie?"

"Your brother is busy in his lab." Master Splinter answered. "He is hoping to understand you better by going where ever you had been."

Michelangelo's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"To help you." Raph spoke. "He has a huge crack in his shell from the punch you landed him earlier and he really shouldn't be up and moving around but he insisted. Basically he really wants to understand why you're so upset. We all do, but you don't seem to want to tell us what happened."

A flood of emotions swept through the turtle as he stood dumbfounded. A crack? How hard did he hit his brother? Why would he want to help after he did that? "I'm upset…" He tried to organize his thoughts. "Because you guys act like I'm not allowed to be strong."

"We don't care how strong you are!" Leo exclaimed. "We just want our brother back, and you're not acting right. Sensei thinks someone messed with your head and that's why you've been so strange lately. We're just trying to help."

The concept of Donnie meeting Master Ryuu sent shivers down his spine. Would his brother survive the training? Or would he die in the presence of master Ryuu's true form? Mikey shook these ideas from his head. If Donnie finished the platform then he could use it to go back to the Dark Realm and complete his training. Once he did, he would surely be stronger than Master Splinter, and possibly Shredder. But what if his brothers were serious and they didn't care how strong he was?  
"What if I don't want help?" Mikey asked, testing the waters. "What if I'm fine being this way? Is it so bad if I'm a little stronger?"

"I'm not against it." Raph answered. "But you did kind of trash Donnie. So I'm kind of opposed to it as well."

"It's not right." Leo included. "You're letting it get to you're head."

Mikey frowned. Who was he to say that? Once again he felt his rage boil close to the surface. They were trying to tell him what to do again, only now they were sugar coating it. He had enough, but held his tongue and closed his eyes to quell his anger. Once Donnie was done with the platform he would use it to return to the Dark Realm and complete his training. When he came back he would show them who was in charge.

**A/N: Rawr! Things came up and stuff. Sorry about that. :P**


	18. Betrayal

Betrayal

Donnie wiped the sweat from his forehead as he worked away at the platform. He heard his brothers talking with Mikey earlier and wanted to join in, but the crack on his shell prevented him from moving around much. The most he could do was finish this and head to the other world, but if his wound didn't heal properly he'd have to ask one of his brothers to go instead.

The platform was nearly complete. He just had to check the purple matter trail. Placing the helmet like contraption on his head he flipped a switch on the right side of it to reveal the dimensional coordinates. As he read them he squinted at the numbers. Something was strange about them. He read them over and over again and realized it was because there were two more matter trails getting picked up. Turning his head towards the dojo the lights lit up indicating that was the source of the coordinates. He slowly dragged himself off his chair and hobbled closer to examine the area. In the middle of the dojo he was picking the readings from the dimension Mikey was sent to, and here on Earth. Then he turned the goggles towards the second trail originating where he was standing when they first drew Mikey home. The odd thing about this was how the dimensional coordinates were the same, coming and going.

Upon this realization he removed his helmet and contemplated what he had learned, trying not to panic. Once his momentary lapse in understanding had subsided he decided to tell Leo what he discovered.

…

Mikey was standing behind Raphael who was sitting at the table feeding his turtle Spike. Every so often Mikey would poke Raph in the head, then step back expectantly. However Raph was doing his best to ignore him.

Deep inside though, Michelangelo's heart was in turmoil. Pretending to be his old self was the only way to prevent them from suspecting his plans. He was going to return to the Dark Realm to finish his training. Until then he had to wait.

"Guys, we have bad news." Leo announced with suspicious eyes on Mikey as Raph grumpily turned his attention away from the leaf munching tortoise.

"What?" Raph asked.

Donnie hobbled in at that moment, leaning on Leo. He spotted Mikey and flashed him a smile, of which he was given another in return. But deep down Mikey regretted hurting Donnie so much, he hadn't meant to. He just wanted to make a point that's all.

"The gun isn't gone." Leo explained. "Donnie found that the purple matter trail led right back to earth from where it disappeared after we used it. All it did was teleport somewhere else."

"So…Shredder can still get a hold of it?" Raph asked.

Leo nodded. "We need to figure out where it went. The trail readings don't make much sense location wise but Donnie believes there's a way to find it. If he can finish the platform on time then we could use it to teleport to its location before Shredder finds it."

"So what happened to going to the dimension I was sent to?" Mikey piped in, standing in front of the two as Raph stood beside him.

Donnie looked ashamed as he answered. "I'm sorry Mikey. We can do that after, but we need to stop the Shredder first. There's no telling what he could do with that kind of power."

For a moment Mikey thought it would be okay, but as he thought more about it he realized he was a little upset that they were putting him aside. They were right though. What would happen if the Shredder was able to control space and time? That would be bad. Reluctantly he nodded. "Totally." He agreed.

The group seemed to relax. "I've already put in both coordinates. I just need to finish a few things on it before we get started." Donnie verified with them before getting back to work.

"You okay Mikey?" Raph asked.

Apparently he had been frowning. Catching himself Mikey quickly switched to a wide smile as he answered. "Yeah! Let's kick butt!" And then turned to run out the door.

"Uh, Mikey?" Leo called, stopping his brother short of the exit. "We kind of need to wait for Donnie to fix the gun first."

"Oh." Mikey put his arms down and walked back. "I knew that." He grinned falsely at them, hoping they wouldn't notice.

…

"Well?" Shredder growled.

"We will find them shortly."Karai grinned. "They are almost finished with the device."

Stockman was standing smugly in his corner. "See? I'm still helpful!"

"Don't count your luck yet!" Shredder hissed, causing the man to draw back. "It was a coincidence that your device came in handy, that is all."

"Now all we need to do is wait for them to find the gun and then we will ambush them. They won't know what happened." Karai grinned. "Not only will we have the gun, but also the platform."

She held up a black transceiver with a few voices echoing through it. "Oh." Came Mikey's muddled voice. "I knew that."

"He has no idea I placed the bug on him during our last encounter." She verified with herself. "This seems almost too easy."

"Which is why we will proceed with caution." The Shredder interrupted. "Stockman! Do you have the coordinates of their lair yet?"

The man smiled nervously as he turned back to the computer and began typing rapidly. After a moment a map appeared with a red blinking dot. "Got it. I have their position."

"Good." Shredder turned. "We will wait and make our attack at the perfect time."

…

Mikey was standing in the dojo with his legs crossed, arms rested and his eyes closed. He was meditating. It's been a few days since Donnie insisted on completing the platform, apparently he needed to make some adjustments for the new mission. Mikey was getting impatient. If he could get a hold if it, use it to return and finish his training by master Ryuu then none of them would have to worry about the Shredder. Mikey would be strong enough to beat him all by himself!

The turtle's body suddenly tensed as he realized what he was thinking. If he didn't know any better he'd say he was becoming a little addicted to power. No, he had to be imagining it. He just wanted to get stronger, to be taken seriously by his brothers and not be considered a nit wit.

"You okay?" April asked, noticing his change in poise. The turtle nodded and relaxed again, but not for long.

"Okay, I just need to perform a test run." Donnie declared as he entered the dojo, his crack still evident but the flesh healing slowly.

Mikey opened his eyes and examined him for a moment. "How are you going to test it?"

"Easy." Donnie smiled and Metalhead appeared beside him. "I'll be sending Metalhead on the platform. By tweaking his sensors I found a way to see what he sees where ever he's sent. Once I'm sure he's where the gun is we'll be able to use it."

"Okay." Mikey nodded, then shut his eyes again as though he weren't that interested.

"I'm gonna test it." Donnie called, drawing Raph and Leo's attention. They entered the room and walked towards Donnie. "Glad someone's interested."

Mikey huffed before raising himself up to stand beside his brothers with another false smile. "Sorry, I'm not good with sciency stuff." He admitted halfheartedly.

"Well you should pay attention." Donnie scolded him. "This thing will be used to fix you too."

Fix me? Mikey thought angrily. What's wrong with being stronger? However he didn't have time to consider this and followed his brothers to the edge of the dojo. Once again each of them stood behind Donnie while Metalhead stood in the center. Donnie set up the platform and stood back with a box like item fixed with two buttons. "Everyone clear?" He called and the three nodded. Now that he knew they weren't in harms way he pushed the top button. The four power cells began to glow with an eerie purple light until the whole room was shrouded in it. As they averted their eyes to prevent themselves from being blinded, the robot disappeared and the light began to dim.

"Okay, that should do it." Donnie called to them while rubbing his eyes. It took time for their vision to clear before they could examine the camera. They crowded around it, waiting for the screen to reveal the guns location.

Finally Donnie pushed the button. What it showed was a laboratory full of robots and scraped parts. "Hey, that looks sort of like-"

"Stockman's lab." Raph finished Donnie's sentence. "That greasy little nerd got to it before us!"

"Where's the gun?" Leo asked, and the robot turned left and right but spotted no such device.

"I don't understand." Donnie began, but was startled when a large explosion cut off the connection. "No!" He shouted, pushing the second button. Another bright flash came from the dojo behind them and the platform reappeared, this time with the broken remnants of Metalhead.

"What happened?" Leo asked as they approached the smoking pile. It was completely torn into scrap metal.

"Maybe Stockman spotted it?" Mikey suggested. "Did you set it to the right destination?"

Donnie dropped the control and kneeled down beside the platform to examine something set on the side, a long line of glowing green numbers. "Yeah, it's set right." Donnie verified only to turn and find Mikey grinning darkly down on him. "What?"

"Slug Bug!" Mikey shouted, punching Donnie in the face.

His brother rolled to the ground, caught completely off guard. As quickly as he could Mikey grabbed the remote and pushed the button.

"Mikey!" Leo shouted. "What are you doing?"

"I'll be back!" Mikey grinned at them, legitimately happy this time. "And I'll be sure to kick your butts for everything you've ever done to me!"

The three tried to leap onto the platform and stop their brother but it was too late. With a sudden flash of light he was gone, platform and all, but not before he witnessed the lair get swarmed by Foot Ninjas.

**A/N: If there are any spelling errors don't hesitate to tell me. I'm trying to finish the story soon so I don't mind going back and fixing a few things. **


	19. A Turn for the Worse

A Turn for the Worse

His vision began to clear up as he glanced around himself, not sure exactly where he was at first. But as the phantom blobs began to take shape he found himself in Baxter Stockman's lab. He was standing on the platform still, just behind a silver counter that had been blown apart moments ago, as indicated by the smoking rubble. The robotic scraps were strewn across the room in a jumbled mess.

Mikey's eyes eventually stopped at the form of an unconscious man laying near the door. He had probably just walked in when the explosion happened. Carefully Mikey moved out from behind the counter and approached him. With a single arm raised he planned on gently shaking the man awake, only to realize it was Stockman himself!

The man stirred and the turtle backed away immediately. Looking around he spotted a piled up mess of tables that had been flipped from earlier and hid beneath them to watch. Perhaps he could learn something?

Stockman groaned as he sat up rubbing his head. "I guess that didn't work." He offhandedly stated to himself as he stood, heading towards the site of the explosion. Just as he stepped in front of the scorched table a strange purple light began to emit out of nowhere. Like a small orb it began to materialize, purple matter first, followed by the silver silhouette of the gun. Stockman's eyes widened in wonder before stepping back away from it, suspicion in his eyes. He flit his fingers nervously before giving in to curiosity and picking it up. "What…..Is this?"

Mikey was instantly thrown into a bout of confusion. How could he not know what that was? He found it in the first place and built a replica of it! And then it hit him. The gun was able to travel through space and TIME. That's why Donnie said the coordinates led back to earth, it didn't just teleport, it sent itself back in time to the moment Stockman had found it in the first place!

His mind reeled chaotically as he tried to understand what that meant, but before he could Stockman had shot the gun, apparently by accident from the sound of his surprised grunt. The turtle continued to watch from his hiding place.

"It's gone." Stockman gawked at the empty floor where something had once stood. "Is this a vaporizer?" He turned the gun in his hands, examining it before squinting at something on the purple bulb. "Oh? A crack? I guess I had better be careful with this then." The scientist commented to himself as he stepped out absentmindedly. Once he was gone Mikey emerged from his place in the shadows and mulled over what he had just learned.

The gun had never come from another universe to begin with. It was built on earth, then sent back in time to inspire its own creation! Mikey rubbed his head as he tried to understand before realizing his own issue. He had wanted to go to the Dark Realm anyways, not here. He forgot to reset the coordinates on the platform. Making sure the scientist was no longer in view he made his way over to the platform again. Down on the side was the long string of glowing numbers, or coordinates as Donnie claimed. Rubbing his chin Mikey pushed the only button on the platform itself. The numbers changed in response. When he pushed it again they returned to the original sequence. Clearly Donnie had only two destinations programmed into the thing. The bottom button on the remote was what would bring him back to where he came from. But that wasn't what he wanted.

Pushing the button again he made sure the coordinates were set for the second destination, which was hopefully the Dark Realm, before stepping onto the device. As he did it began to glow. Quickly he glanced at the remote in his hand to make sure he didn't push the button by accident, but that didn't seem to be the case and suddenly the light enveloped the whole room, blinding the turtle and causing him to stand back with his arms up to block the light. Finally it began to dim. Slowly Mikey lowered his hands only to find his brothers standing around the platform along with an unconscious Foot ninja. They all looked worse for the wear, but then again the lair had been swarmed just before he left.

"What…" Mikey was at a loss for words, how did they follow him?

Donnie suddenly collapsed, seating himself roughly on the ground and cringing in pain. His wound had been reopened. Raph instantly kneeled down beside him. "Take it easy." He cooed, holding Donnie's head up.

"Mikey!" Leo nearly shouted, his face contorted in anger. "What did you do?!"

Michelangelo stepped back in surprise. "I don't…." He muttered.

In the blink of an eye Leo was upon him, shoving the younger turtle against the farthest wall roughly, grimacing in his face. "You betrayed us!"

A sudden wave of shame washed over him at those words. He recalled putting his trust in Karai. She had been awfully interested in the platform so of course she would plan to steal it. But Mikey had stolen it first…. "I didn't mean to!" Was all he could think to say.

"You didn't mean to?" Leo mocked him. "So how did it happen then? You accidentally told them about what Donnie was building? You accidentally told them where our home was?"

At that last accusation Mikey found himself shoving Leo back. "I didn't tell them where our home was! I don't know how they found out! I didn't think it would matter if they knew about the platform thingy anyways!"

"Why? Because you were going to steal it first?" This time it was Raph who spoke up. His face was lowered over Donnie's nearly limp form. He didn't look very good.

He decided to avoid the question with a question. "How did you guys get here?"

Leo shoved Mikey again. "Don't go changing the subject!"

"Actually, I'd like to know that as well." Raph admitted, eyes still focused on Donatello who took a deep breath.

"The platform…needed to cool down." He gasped, trying to explain. "Since it didn't….It created a…Hiccup effect." Another deep breath. "A second pulse of energy….To send anyone else nearby…To the same destination….a few moments after the first…"

"You don't look so good." Mikey commented worriedly. This time he earned a sharp glare from Raph.

"And whose fault do you think that is?" The red banded turtle snapped. "You were the one who did this to him in the first place. You were the one who told the Foot about what Donnie was building. You were the one who led them to us! This is all your fault!"

"No!" Mikey shouted in protest. "This isn't my fault! I wasn't planning on any of this to happen! I just wanted to be stronger, to prove to you guys that I'm more than just a little brother. I wanted you guys to respect me!"

"How can we?" Leo responded. "When you're letting yourself become a monster?"

Something seemed to snap inside of him. Suddenly, every vision he had been shown by master Ryuu came flying back to him. Each one reoccurring in his head more realistic than the next until he couldn't handle it. Clamping his hands to the sides of his head he squeezed his eyes shut and bowed, trying to chase them out. But Leo and Raph's words were echoing through his mind as well. They were blaming him for everything that had gone wrong. They called him a monster. They hated him. It was so clear to him now. They never considered him their brother. They just used him. He could never earn their respect.

A sudden shout caught the other three off guard. Leo stepped back carefully, not sure what was going on in his brother's head but knowing it wasn't good. Almost as soon as the scream had started, it stopped. Mikey then slouched with his head down, a shadow cast upon his eyes leaving his face impossible to read. After a moment Leo decided to take a chance and reached his hand out. "Mikey?"

Immediately he was thrown across the lab, left to slam into the wall with a sickening crunch before falling to the ground. Raph stood up immediately. "What the heck are you doing?!" He shouted, but his voice went unheard as Michelangelo lunged at him.

Raph dodged him with ease, pulling out his Sai and standing at the ready. "Mikey, you don't want to do this!" He warned before his brother twirled around, Kusarigama at the ready. They collided, and the clang of metal on metal echoed through the lab. For a short while it was nothing but an exchange of blows, each being blocked by the other. Sparks began to fly as they hit harder and harder until Raph finally got an advantage and locked Mikey's Kusarigama in his Sai. With a single twist he succeeded in disarming his brother. "Told ya you wouldn't want to do this."

Mikey grinned darkly, wiping the smug look off his brother's face. Suddenly the turtle disappeared, leaving Raph to twirl around trying to find his location. Something caught his feet and he leapt through the air to dodge, only to meet Mikey's foot half way. With a mighty kick Michelanglo sent Raph slamming hard into the tiled floor, knocking him out instantly. With a triumphant smirk he grabbed one of Raphs Sai's and raised it above his head, prepared to deliver the final blow. Just as he was about to plunge he spun to the side, avoiding a twin pair of swords in the process.

A trickle of blood was falling from Leo's mouth, indicating possible internal damage. He didn't seem to notice at the moment and held his swords at the ready, a steely gaze drilling into Mikey. "Why are you doing this? Who made you like this?"

"I've always been like this!" Mikey shouted, then paused as though just realizing his own words. Then he laughed. A dark, maniacal laugh that sent shivers down Leo's spine.

It was cut short as he felt something touch his foot. Turning, Mikey found Donnie at his feet. The crack on his stomach was bleeding profusely, draining the color from his face. "Please…Mikey. You're not like this. You're our brother…"

Moments ago those words would have been heard, but not now. Now they meant nothing. With a grunt of irritation Mikey let out a kick to Donatello's head, leaving him unconscious.

"No!" Leo shouted, lunging forward as though able to stop what had just happened. Mikey leapt into the air, nimbly flipping over his brother and landing behind him. Almost immediately he had to swoop backwards to avoid Leo's swords as he swung around defensively. On one foot Mikey spun around and tripped Leo mid swing. He fell to the floor but quickly rolled back, regaining his footing only to receive a punch to the face.

"Got your nose!" Mikey grinned, holding his fist up with the tip of his thumb sticking out from between his two fingers. "Wait…We don't have noses. So where did this come from?" He scratched his head.

Taking this opportunity Leo swung both his blades down, intending to immobilize him. However he was forced to gawk in utter awe as Mikey's arms shot out, grabbing each sword by the blade and stopping them successfully. The sharp metal bit harshly into the turtles flesh, sending rivers of blood down the hilts. Leo instantly lamented on what he had done. As the doubt became evident in his brother's eyes, Mikey yanked both swords from his hands and tossed them aside, spattering blood across the floor as he did so.

"Mikey….What's happened to you?" Leo stepped back in horror, no longer recognizing the turtle before him.

Mikey grinned darkly at him, sinister intentions in his eyes. "I grew up." And once again lunged at his now disarmed brother. Leo had no choice but to take each blow, barely blocking every now and then. He just wasn't fast enough. Suddenly parts of his body became numb. First his left arm went limp, then his right leg. Eventually he fell to the floor in a heap, unable to do much else than grunt. "It's amazing how powerful hand to hand combat can be when you learn how to use pressure points." Mikey mocked, holding up two fingers. With a sudden jab to the neck Leo was left unconscious as well.

Standing back up the turtle glanced around at his handy work, briefly wondering how Stockman didn't hear all this. However he dismissed the thought and retrieved the platform. Hauling his brothers together into a single pile along with the still unconscious foot ninja he tossed the platform over them and pressed the bottom button on the remote. In another blinding flash of light his brothers were gone, along with the platform itself. However the remote remained in his hand, ensuring that they wouldn't find an immediate way back. Let the Foot handle them. He had a gun to find.

**A/N: Sorry, classes are kicking my butt! I only recently got to read over the previous chapter. Man I had a lot of mistakes. I fixed them though. I'm doing my best to update when I can! **


	20. Retrieval

Retrieval

From what he could remember he had a week until his brothers, as well as his past self, would be at the warehouse. This meant he had to steal the gun before the Purple Dragons could. According to Donatello after Stockman discovered the purple matter gun he tried to keep it to himself before it was stolen by them, then handed over to the Foot for the Shredder to take. He and his brothers had however intercepted it before the thing made it to the hands of the Shredder, but this time Mikey was going to make sure it never got that far in the first place.

Creeping along down the halls, dodging the security cameras and shifting from one room to another he eventually caught up to Stockman. It had been a few days since he turned on his brothers. Most of his time had been spent caring for his injured hands and spying on the scientist. Clearly he couldn't go home. How was he going to explain how there were now two of him? Yet the prospect of meeting his former self was tempting. Quickly he shook that idea from his head and continued following the man who had already discovered the uses of the purple matter gun with a few trial runs and his mousers. After watching from the air vents and windows for a while Michelangelo felt he may be able to program the thing to take him where he wanted as well. It had been quite a learning experience to watch the man fiddle with the thing after all.

Stockman snapped his head back and peered down the empty hallway suspiciously. A few seconds of staring and he continued on his way, gun in hand, to the safe room where he was certain no one could get to it while he was away. The man stopped at a large vaulted door and leaned forward, keeping one eye open as an eye scanner traced his retina and let out a small 'ting' noise. The circular plaque that bolted the door closed began to twist itself until the grating of the lock mechanism snapped, opening the door. Taking one last look behind him Stockman slipped inside and approached a pedestal in the center. Ever so gently he lifted the gun and lightly set it down.

"There we go. Until tomorrow my sweet." The man cooed to the inanimate object before smiling to himself and leaving. Unbeknownst to him a ninja had slipped in behind him and was currently hidden up in the corner of the ceiling, holding his hands and legs out sturdily to keep himself from falling. Counting to thirty the turtle decided it was safe enough and dropped to the floor, landing as light as a feather.

Stealing a glance back at the door he stepped up to the pedestal and examined the gun. This was it. Two days of watching that man fiddle with this thing and he knew he had it figured out. Now all he needed to do was take it for himself.

Eagerly he leaned over, arms held out on either side with hands at the ready. His eyes scrutinized the silver gun, running up and down its figure to ensure there weren't any traps. In the blink of an eye his hands moved in a blurred motion and the gun was replaced by a small sack of sand. The turtle was now half standing, half cowered with the gun cradled in his arms. Glancing around the small room he double checked for any booby traps that may have been set off. When nothing happened he stood straight and let out a sigh of relief.

After sneaking about the lab for two days he had a pretty good idea of how to get it out without being caught, so Michelangelo took a planned route and ended up in a back alley downtown. Now safely outside he dove into the shadows and shirked his visibility, ensuring that he wouldn't be spotted by any unwanted passerby's. Many twists and turns later he found himself at the edge of the city where houses were scattered about in small cul-de-sacs. He would be safe out here.

Emerging from the shadows he held up the gun before him and examined the small plate above the handle. At first glance it was nothing more than a simple silver gun with a purple glowing bulb, but upon closer inspection he could read a few dark imprints written upon its hilt. Michelangelo squinted his eyes and realized the controls were very similar to the ones Donnie had used on the platform. This only half helped him understand what he'd been watching Stockman do for the past two days. He was going to need to test it out first. He'd eventually make it to the Dark Realm, right?  
The surface was touch sensitive he realized as he slid his finger along the ingrained words. They began to glow, revealing a second panel hidden beneath the silver surface. It displayed coordinates from the last dimension Stockman sent his mousers to. If he fiddled with it a little more, the touch sensitive surface would change into different coordinates. There were plenty more options than the platform had and he took a random guess before standing out in the open, hidden in some back alley neighborhood next to a dumpster and held the gun up, aiming it at himself. Taking a deep breath the turtle squeezed the trigger and a bright white light engulfed him.

As was expected the light temporarily blinded him. He stood still for a moment, eyes squeezed shut, until the sting had gone. What he expected was some strange world, either covered in strange colored rocks, rolling hills, or fog maybe with unusually colored skies. Instead he found himself right where he was supposed to be. On Earth, next to a dumpster in a back alley neighborhood. Only this time he was surrounded by uncomfortably familiar space crafts hovering about him with bright lights shining upon his frame. There were at least six of the Kraang ships, each focusing its attention on the turtle.

"Give us the item which is the item we want!" Ordered the kraang in the ship to Michelangelo's immediate right.

"Uh…" Mikey immediately realized he had missed the trigger and only squeezed the handle, never having set the gun off in the first place. "I don't know what you mean." He swiftly hid it behind his back, regardless of the two ships behind him.

"This is not that which is known as funny." The Kraang in the ship to his left stated robotically, extracting a long mechanical arm and stretching it out towards the turtle.

Mikey immediately leapt through the air and back flipped over the two hovering ships behind him, catching them all off guard. "Finders keepers!" He shouted back at them before sprinting off into the shadows. However just as he made it to them a laser blast cut him off and blew the buildings to dust, nearly hitting the turtle in the process.

He took a few steps back, eyes glued on his ruined escape route. "Well…So much for that idea." Mikey then turned to face the six ships that were flying at him now, one in which was scolding the other for shooting at the turtle while he was holding the gun, nearly hitting it as well.

In a single swift movement the turtle flew through the air and landed lightly on the first ship before leaping off onto the next one. The others attempted to grab at him with their mechanical arms but were easily evaded while they clumsily bumped into one another, allowing the turtle room for escape.

This time he headed for the nearest river he could think of. This meant heading back towards the city but he had no choice. If the Kraang got a hold of the gun…Well it was hard to decide if it would be worse than the Shredder getting it.

The ships followed him closely. He managed to stay out of reach long enough for them to become frustrated enough to throw caution to the wind and shoot at him. Dodging the lasers made it more difficult, but only slightly. His training with Master Ryuu had helped him adjust to exerting his body like this so he wouldn't get tired for a while. As planned, he made it to the river before running out of breath. Approaching it he held the gun close to himself and dove right in. As a turtle he could stay under long enough for the Kraang to lose track so he could swim away downstream.

After ten minutes of swimming he found himself at a docking area. Climbing up out of the water while latched onto the side of the dock he glanced around to make sure no one was around before tossing up the gun. It landed with a dull thud, causing the turtle to wince once he realized what he had done. Pulling himself up he realized the purple bulb had begun to glow suddenly. Panicking he worried it was going to go off, but then someone stepped out from the shadows, causing him to duck below the dock again.

"What's this?" Grunted a familiar gruff voice.

"Let me see that!" Cried a second.

It was quiet and the turtle sat wondering how he was going to get the gun back without breaking it any more. His thoughts were interrupted by the two above him.

"Let's take it in for testing. See if Stockman can figure it out." The voice Mikey now recognized as Fish Face declared.

The first gruff voice which he was certain was Dog Pound just huffed. Then he heard the two leaving, so he dared to look up to find them gone.

Michelangelo knew he would have been able to take the two out easily, he did it before after all. But if he did and the battle got too rough he might end up breaking the gun. He didn't want to be sent to some weird dimension and get stuck there, which was the same reason he didn't fight the Kraang ships. But now the gun was gone, which meant he had to play the waiting game again until he finds an opportune moment to steal it back before the week was up.

With a frustrated sigh the turtle slipped out of his hiding spot and began searching the area for any sign of the two mutants, all the while trying not to think that it may have been his fault all along that the Foot clan had gotten a hold of the gun in the first place...

**A/N: Not exactly the longest chapter but I fell behind on my updates so I forced it out. I promised (Venus de Milo) to get this out today and look! I got it out 1.5 hours short of being a liar! :D**

**Yes, this is based off the 2012 series, with a plot similar to the previous 2003 series. It's before the last few episodes of the first season, which is why the kraang appear. **

**If ya'll see any grammatical errors don't hesitate to tell me! I have no problem editing and appreciate criticism! **


	21. Reality Check

Reality Check

He was getting frustrated. How hard could it possibly be to find a simple gun? Unfortunately it would seem very difficult. The week was almost up and he had yet to locate the gun. At this rate he would have no choice but to lay in wait at the warehouse he and his brothers were at when this mess first started. Grumpily he watched the streets below him, hoping for any sign of the Purple Dragons, or better yet, the Foot Clan.

"Grah!" Mikey banged his head on the bars that aligned the roof he was on. If only he had paid more attention during missions he'd remember everything Donnie told him and would know where the gun was right now! One day left till the cycle started all over again.

Something moved in the shadows below him, catching his attention. Quickly he hopped down and shrouded himself in darkness. The subject continued to wander down the alley, unaware of the turtle behind them. Suddenly it stopped. A short wave of panic caught in the ninja's throat as he turned to sneak away before being spotted.

"Mikey?" Came the familiar voice.

The turtle tensed. What now?

"Is that you?" April approached him, worry etched on her face. "What are you doing out here? Where are the others?"

"Others?" Mikey asked before realizing the situation and letting out his breath. "Oh, right! I mean, I was scouting ahead and stuff….Uh…I gotta get back." He turned to leave before her hand caught his arm. He turned questioningly towards her.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

The turtle examined her momentarily. She didn't know he wasn't the same Mikey that was with his brothers right now. She didn't know he was going to be sent to another dimension tomorrow night. She didn't know he would turn on them, or that he would be responsible for the Foot finally discovering their lair.

"Nope!" He plastered on a fake smile.

She didn't appear to believe him at first, but eventually gave in with a loud sigh and began digging through her pockets. Unsure of what to expect Mikey unconsciously took a step back, only for the girl to pull out a very familiar red yo-yo.

"What's that for?" Mikey asked, despite himself.

She smiled and handed it to him. "It's for you. I found it earlier and thought if anyone would like it, that'd be you." April waved goodbye before heading back onto the street. "Good luck! I'll see you back at the lair later, I have some errands to run."

She was referring to the mission his past self and brothers were working on at the moment, but it came as a surprise to the turtle for some reason. He could have sworn he had found the yo-yo himself. This couldn't be the same one…Could it?

An idea struck him, utterly distracting him from his week long duty to find the gun and he began heading towards the nearest manhole. Slipping down into the sewers, he made his way through the tunnels until he came upon a familiar sight. He had to make sure no one saw him, especially his past self. Maybe he could knock them all out before they saw him?

The thought crossed his mind much more smoothly than he expected. Mikey was startled when he realized just how confident he was against his own brothers, but what about Master Splinter?

Approaching the lair the turtle felt slightly choked at the thought of seeing his brothers again after what he'd done to them. But then again, it hadn't happened yet so why worry? Oh yeah, because there was another him here.

Slipping inside he scanned the room. No one was around. Surprised and slightly baffled by this he proceeded to his own room. Creeping through the lair he heard the sounds of combat from the dojo. Of course they would be training! That's why they weren't out here. With a sigh of relief he slipped to his sleeping quarters and surveyed the area. If he remembered correctly this was where he first found the yo-yo.

Getting down on all fours he found himself searching quite seriously. Across the room, along the edges of the walls, on the shelves and under comics he searched but to no avail. A sound behind him caught his attention and he quickly jumped up to the ceiling where he clung onto some sewer pipes for dear life as his former self walked in.

"Oh hey! A yo-yo!" His former self yelped with glee as he picked up the red toy from the ground.

Realization dawned on him as he watched himself do a few around the worlds and bonk himself in the forehead. He was here before…The whole time….

"Hey guys! Look what I found!" The other Mikey ran out of the room with his newly discovered toy. Dropping down, Michelangelo's head was in a daze. Everything was repeating itself, and he was helping with it!

"No!" He shouted suddenly, not sure why he was angered so easily. He stood silently, listening for his brothers to come running to see what that noise was. Instead he heard himself outside, bragging about doing tricks on the new yo-yo that they couldn't do.

Taking a few steps back he looked around desperately before finding an escape route. His former self was distracting his brothers, whom each appeared more annoyed than amused. Taking his chance he slipped passed them. A slight knot of anger hung in his gut as he overheard Leo yell at him.

"Mikey! We don't have time for this!" Leo's voice echoed. "Can't you grow up for five minutes and pay attention?"

For a moment he thought he was going to turn around and attack them again but the sight of Master Splinter's approaching figure gave him second thoughts and he backed down, deciding to sneak out instead.

Once safely above ground he paced back and forth. "This was all my fault." He mumbled to himself. "I started everything! It was all my fault to begin with!" Had it not been for him the gun would never have fallen into the hands of the Purple Dragons. What's more, the thought that his future self had been in the same room as him the day before he was sent to the Dark Realm seemed utterly unreal.

"I've got to stop this…"He eventually stated, stopping in his tracks and focusing his attention on the rising sun. In that moment he made a decision. There was only one way he was going to get back to the Dark Realm and that was by letting things happen the way they were supposed to.

…

It was the next night. Mikey was sitting on a ledge, hidden from anyone's sight as he watched the Foot Clan move about in the shadows, setting up their trap for his brothers and himself. He knew what was going to happen. It needed to happen.

Hours crept by and soon he spotted the Shell Raiser approach from afar. It lay hidden in the shadows as his brothers spilled out, implementing their plan. He saw himself split away and hide on a separate ledge before becoming utterly distracted by the new yo-yo. His brothers however snuck in with ease, unaware of the trap laying in wait. He smirked, hoping they got what they deserved before focusing his attention on his former self. As soon as he left his post he would follow close behind.

It didn't take too long. Soon he saw the other Foot rush the building. The sound of combat was heard and his former self stopped his actions, dropped the yo-yo and dove right in. Mikey did likewise, making sure he kept his distance. The turtle kept hidden as he followed, making sure he didn't draw attention to himself. He watched as the battle ensued while hidden behind a pile of crates. They continued to file in one after another, well prepared for the turtles. Then they began to disperse. This was it.

"Uh…Hah! That's right you better run! You bunch of cowards!" The other Mikey boasted before heading into the next section of the warehouse.

Staying where he was he counted the seconds until a familiar flash of light was seen, blinding him immediately. However the bright flash didn't dim this time. Instead it was suddenly cut off. Confused, he opened his eyes and glanced around. He was engulfed in darkness. Trying to gain his bearings and figure out what he did wrong the shadows began to contract and tighten. Soon the entirety of the darkness seemed to be moving somehow. Before long they took on a serpentine shape and a pair of flaming red eyes appeared before him.

Relieved, Mikey greeted the dragon. "Master Ryuu!"

The dragon however growled menacingly, glaring down its nose at the turtle. "No one leaves the Dark Realm without my permission!"

**A/N: Aw snap! Ryuu's back!**


End file.
